Brands influence selection: Pawar

BCCI President Sharad Pawar has made some major revelations on player contracts and team selection. In an exclusive interview to CNN-IBN, Pawar has said that some younger players had told him that they felt ad companies were trying to influence selection.

He also said an inquiry was being done to find out if a player's contract was linked to the time he spent on the crease. Mr Pawar also spoke out on the decision to rest Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly for the Bangladesh one-day series.

This is the first time Pawar has spoken out on the controversies swirling around Indian cricket since the World Cup defeat.

Pawar on player-advertiser nexus

I have full confidence on the selection committee and the captain. They will never indulge in these type of wrong things. But it is true that when I got an opportunity to interact with some young players, they did mention that there are certain advertisement companies which are giving contracts to a group of players.

The companies' intentions are always to see that each and every member of their advertisement team is selected. That is their thinking. I don't know how far it is correct.

Pawar on contracts

This is not confirmed. But we have got some complaints from some responsible people that there are some contracts of players with some companies based on how much time they spend on the crease, that if you spend more time on the wicket then you will get more money. If that is correct, then this affects the game.

Rajdeep Sardesai: You have got an official complaint or is it unofficial?

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