Wasn’t aware about Vikram Rathour's 'conflict of interest', says CoA chief Vinod Rai

There seems to be no end to the petty tussles between the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrator (CoA) officials, as recent events have suggested. The Mithali Raj-Ramesh Powar saga, the appointment of coach for the women’s team and the issue over punishment for Hardik Pandya’s comments on national television all brought out contrasting reactions from both the bodies. The latest issue at hand which has led to a difference in opinion is the appointment of Vikram Rathour as batting coach of the India A team by BCCI’s head of operations - Saba Karim.

Sources from inside BCCI also told TOI reporters about the whole speculation surrounding Rathour’s placement. Apparently, Rathour is a relative of Under-19 selector Ashish Kapoor and a cousin of former BCCI president Anurag Thakur.

Krishna Pophale, the former executive assistant to Thakur, when the latter was BCCI chief, had applied some months ago for a role of in the Board's assistant operations team but the application was rejected by the COA because of his earlier working relations with Thakur.

"So, how is Rathour okay? By the way, the COA talks much about due diligence. Did it do due diligence this time? They made such a ruckus over the appointment of women's coach," sources revealed.

"That boy can't work because he worked with Thakur in the past. But Rathour can, even if he's related. What's going on?" say BCCI members.

Reports suggest that Karim approached Dravid with the names of Rathour and Vijay Yadav (appointed for Under-19) after WV Raman left the National Cricket Academy to coach the Indian women’s team.