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New Delhi: Former ICC match referee Chris Broad has made explosive claims about the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in a recent interview. According to Broad, he had once received a phone call asking him to "be lenient" and pardon India for a slow over-rate offence during one of the games during his career as a match official.
Broad revealed that the incident clearly indicated how India used to get favourable treatment in certain situations, highlighting the role of cricket politics in the application of rules during that time.
While Broad didn't recall the match or India's opposition, he said that he had received the phone call during the game, when India were three or four overs behind the required over-rate.
"India were three, four overs down at the end of a game so it constituted a fine," said Broad. "I got a phone call saying, 'Be lenient, find some time because it’s India'. And it’s like, right, OK. So we had to find some time, brought it down below the threshold," he told The Telegraph.
The former England cricketer, who is the father of Stuart Broad, also revealed that India made the same mistake in the next game, and his warnings fell on the deaf ears of then-skipper Sourav Ganguly. When his warnings were ignored, Broad said he had no option left but to enforce the rules.
"The very next game, exactly the same thing happened. He (Sourav Ganguly) didn’t listen to any of the hurry-ups, and so I phoned and said, 'What do you want me to do now?' and I was told, 'Just do him.' So there were politics involved, right from the start. A lot of the guys now are either politically more savvy or just keeping the head below the parapet. I don’t know," Broad further revealed.
Broad, who officiated in 123 Tests in his career as an ICC referee, retired in Colombo in February 2024. He also highlighted the growing political influence in the game, partly due to India's expanding power.
