Tendulkar, Laxman served conflict of interest notices

Laxman is part of the CAC as well as the mentor of SRH. © BCCI

Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman were on Wednesday (April 24) served alleged 'conflict of interest' notices by DK Jain, BCCI's ombudsman-cum-ethics officer, for serving as mentors of Mumbai Indians and Sunrisers Hyderabad respectively, as well as being members of the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC). It is the third case of conflict of interest being filed after Sourav Ganguly, the Delhi Capitals mentor, the CAB president and a CAC member, had to appear before Justice (retd.) Jain to explain for his roles.

The complaint againt their dual roles was filed by Sanjeev Gupta, a member of the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association (MPCA). The BCCI and the pair are consequently asked to file written responses to the allegations by April 28. A failure to do so will not leave them with a chance to explain their position on the matter.

As per the notice to Tendulkar and Laxman, Justice Jain wrote: "A complaint has been received by the Ethics Officer of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (for short "the BCCI") under Article 39 of the Rules and Regulations of the BCCI, regarding certain acts, allegedly constituting as 'conflict of interest' on your part.

"You may file your written response to the accompanying Complaint, supported by duly executed affidavit, on or before 28th April 2019, with the Office of the Ethics Officer, BCCI, Mumbai for further proceedings in the matter," he further stated.

It has, however, been learnt that Tendulkar has no financial contract with the Mumbai-based franchise, and the three are voluntarily part of the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC). "Since Ganguly was issued notice, the Ombudsman probably issued the notices to both Tendulkar and Laxman also. But I can confirm that Tendulkar doesn't take a single penny from Mumbai Indians. He is just doing voluntary service. Also in BCCI, he never got paid for his services as CAC," a senior BCCI official privy to development was quoted as saying to PTI.

Tendulkar, Laxman and Ganguly were part of CAC that picked Ravi Shastri as the head coach of the national team in July 2017.