Ian Chappell slams BCCI for 'muzzling' commentators over DRS, controversial issues

Former Australian captain and Channel Nine commentator Ian Chappell has said that he will not work during Australia's India tour as a protest against the Indian cricket board's 'muzzling' over the controversial Decision Review System (DRS).

The wealthy Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has barred the commentators for its own production unit like Sunil Gavaskar, Ravi Shastri, Laxman Sivaramakrishnan and Matthew Hayden from speaking on topics like the DRS, Indian selection and the cricket administration.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, commentators working for Star Sports, including Harsha Bhogle, Sourav Ganguly and Shane Warne, are also subject to the BCCI restrictions.

Claiming that he had rejected an offer to cover this year's Test series of India because of his refusal to be 'muffled', Chappell said that he has not been invited to comment during the seven-game ODI series, adding that he cannot do his job properly under such circumstances.

According to Chappell, it is disgraceful that Indian commentators have been barred from speaking on the contentious issues, especially the Indian Premier League (IPL) spot-fixing story.

The report mentioned that premier Indian commentator Sanjay Manjrekar has been dropped from the Indian production's world feed because he questioned BCCI's respect for the Future Tours Program (FTP).

Chappell further said that rather than muzzling the commentators, it is better had BCCI sacked them if it did not like what the commentators were saying, adding that the board was short-changing the public despite having their own credibility to consider.