NEW DELHI (AP) — India’s cricket board suspended bilateral ties with the West Indies on Tuesday and decided to begin legal action over the abandoned tour of India.
“The BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) will initiate legal proceedings against West Indies Cricket Board due to the abrupt cancellation of this tour,” it said in a statement after meeting in the southern city of Hyderabad.
“All bilateral tours between BCCI and WICB stand suspended.”
India is scheduled to tour West Indies in February-March 2016.
The WICB is due to hold another emergency meeting on Tuesday in Barbados.
Because of a pay dispute at home, the West Indies followed through with threats to quit the tour after the fourth one-day international in Dharamsala on Friday, with one more ODI, a Twenty20 and three tests remaining.
On Friday, the WICB apologized “unreservedly” to the BCCI and all stakeholders in the tour, and said it “looks forward to the continuation of the strong and longstanding relationship” between them.
The BCCI, which quickly replaced the abandoned matches with five ODIs against Sri Lanka next month but still stands to lose more than $50 million in revenue, did not indicate any figure for a damages claim.
But it will be almost impossible for the WICB to cough up any such amount since it has struggled to stay afloat in recent years.
Hosting the 2007 Cricket World Cup helped it wipe out accumulated debts of $20 million but it has since failed to find sufficient sponsors, and fought over pay with the national team.
There was media speculation that the BCCI would also bar West Indian players from the cash-rich Indian Premier League, but that was not mentioned.
The West Indies pulled out because of an unresolved dispute over pay structure with the West Indies Players Association and WICB. The team said WIPA signed a collective bargaining agreement and memorandum of understanding last month without its knowledge and consent, and has pressed WIPA president Wavell Hinds to resign.
Hinds has refused, and the board has said it will honour the CBA and memorandum.
