The BCCI on Tuesday reserved its judgement on an acrimonious public spat between Rajasthan Royals captain Shane Warne and RCA secretary Sanjay Dixit after summoning both of them for a hearing. Both Warne and Dixit appeared before a three-member IPL panel and gave their versions of the incident regarding the change of pitch and the subsequent events which have marred this edition’s Twenty20 event.
Dixit had accused Warne of abusing him for not acceding to his request to change the pitch for Rajasthan’s home match against Royal Challengers Bangalore on May 11. “We had a long meeting and judgement is awaited. We were called together and separately. Hearing was held in a cordial atmosphere. Since it was a hearing, the proceedings were confidential,” Dixit said after the hearing which lasted close to three hours.
The IPL panel that conducted the hearing comprised of chairman Chirayu Amin, IPL governing council member Ravi Shastri and IMG official John. “The hearing was only about the complaint that I had lodged. There was no extraneous element. The three-member panel heard all our points and I will wait for the judgement as I still don’t know when it’s going to come,” Dixit said.
It is not known yet when the BCCI will give its judgement on the issue. A top BCCI official indicated that a media release will be issued later in the day but it was not clear whether it would be the judgement or merely a press note on the proceedings of the hearing. Warne, who was accompanied by Rajasthan Royals’ CEO Sean Morris, was the first to leave after the hearing.
Dixit was called for deposing later on. Warne is alleged to have publicly insulted Dixit after an IPL match in Jaipur, calling him a “liar and egoistic”, forcing RR owner Shilpa Shetty to intervene and apologise for the incident.
