Curious case of 134 suitcases for Virat Kohli’s men in blue!

Then BCCI secretary Ajay Shirke under whose watchful eyes the order was placed has made a claim he did not clear the amount

By: Ankit Banerjee |
March 9, 2017 1:46 pm

Tags: Ajay Shirke, BCCI, Lodha Panel,

A godown in the financial capital of Mumbai has Rs 27 lakh worth evidence of the muck that presently grips the BCCI. It happened not long back but last year in September, the BCCI has dished an order with Wheeliecase Cricket, a Dutch-based company which has the mastered the art of making hard-shelled cricket suitcases that are being used by many cricketing nations around the globe. The request was made by the blue-eyed boy of the Indian cricket, Virat Kohli to the BCCI that he wanted the new travel kit following Indian team’s T20 tour to the West, Florida to play the West Indies. It has just come to the notice that the kit arrived last October but are surprisingly yet to be delivered.

So what is the reason behind it?

This is the strange bit. As the office-bearers were no longer in power and the new Supreme Court-appointed Committee are still settling into their new roles there is a cloud cover as to who will clear the debts. Also, there are eyebrows being raised over the fact that why a whopping 134 suitcases are being ordered for a contingent of a mere 25 members. Is there a hidden personal interest somewhere?

The then BCCI secretary Ajay Shirke, under whose watchful eyes the order was placed, has made a claim that he did not clear the claim. “I was told once the order was done, there was no purchase order and neither was approval taken,” Shirke said in a statement. “It was presented as fait accompli. So I stopped it.”

Earlier, Shirke was chucked out as BCCI office bearer over the delay in implementing the famous Lodha reforms.

When Ed van Nierop, who looks after the marketing and development of Wheeliecase was contacted, he said that the Indian players had wanted the suitcases and the cricketing apex body had placed it. Initially, the cases were shipped from Shanghai last year in September, but unfortunately, they couldn’t frisk past the customs as important documents were not available.

As per the report, BCCI owed US $250 per set of three with the overall bill, which included logo printing and duty charges, amounting to US $40,402 (nearly Rs 27 lakh). It is pretty evident that no payment has been made by the BCCI—they are still in dilly dally mode as to who will make the payments.

There’s something, somewhere or someone who knows a little more than we do! Will team Kohli finally get their fancy travel kit? Or, is this the suitcase-gate?