The International Cricket Council (ICC) has summoned Sunil Gavaskar to explain an apparent conflict of interests between his roles as an honorary cricket committee head and a paid media pundit, an ICC spokesman said on Tuesday. The 58-year-old former India captain has been called to meet ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed at the governing body's Dubai headquarters to account for his controversial media columns. “The ICC board discussed the matter last week and off the back of that, Sunil Gavaskar will be meeting with Malcolm Speed in due course to discuss the matter further,” the ICC spokesman told Reuters from Dubai. He said no date had been fixed for the meeting. Cricinfo website reported they are expected to meet in Dubai later this week. It said Gavaskar was believed to be currently holidaying in Dubai. Gavaskar, a popular television commentator, described England and Australia as “dinosaurs” in a syndicated column at the weekend. “Gone are the days when two countries, England and Australia, had the veto power in international cricket, even though the dinosaurs may not open their eyes and see the reality,” he wrote. “The cricketing world has found that India has no longer a diffident voice but a confident one that knows what is good for its cricket, and will strive to get it.” A report in British newspaper Times' online edition on Tuesday said that Gavaskar is to be asked to step down as ICC cricket committee chairman. The report said Gavaskar, a controversial figure since his retirement, was defending his criticism of match referee Mike Procter, after he had ruled against India's Harbhajan Singh for alleged racial abuse of Andrew Symonds in January's Sydney Test. Gavaskar had reportedly claimed that white South African match referee Procter was biased against Indian players because of their skin color. Procter's ruling was subsequently overruled by the appeals commissioner. “Gavaskar is a cricket legend, but it was felt that his (post) as ICC cricket committee chairman was in direct conflict to his role as a journalist and commentator,” said a source close to the situation. “ICC has not taken a decision in this regard. It is Gavaskar who has to decide now which role he is comfortable with. It's completely up to him.” Asked about the issue, a senior Indian board official told Reuters: “It is between ICC and Gavaskar.” Gavaskar, the first batsman to score 10,000 Test runs, and the ICC were unavailable for comment when contacted by Reuters.
