The BCCI tells Mobile ESPN’s Shreyas Sharma that there is no love lost with Pakistan and Sri Lanka despite recent reports.

It seems the BCCI isn't really the centre of power in the cricket world, as the media makes it out to be. For as soon as India had cancelled their tour of Pakistan, and Sri Lanka agreed to fill in, speculation had been mounting that the interim Sri Lanka Cricket board, headed by Arjuna Ranatunga, would have to face the ire of the Indian board.

Then came reports in the Colombo media, Sunday, that when the government decided to go ahead with the tour, even after Ranatunga and company had got the sack, the BCCI had had enough and its powers-that-be weren't too pleased. Probably true, but not really if you believe the Board's chief administrative officer, Ratnakar Shetty.

Speaking to Mobile ESPN on Sunday night, Shetty said: "I can only say that it is a figment of someone's imagination. The BCCI has not at all had any talks with the Sri Lankans. They are completely independent to decide their own programs. So there is no question of BCCI being happy or unhappy."

So what about all those theories that India play big brother in the all-too-dominating Asian bloc in world cricket?

It does seem, though, that the BCCI can arm-twist, when required, but believes in persuasion. Just last week, the Asian Cricket Council met in Kuala Lumpur, and one of the things that did come up was India's cancellation of the Pakistan tour. Shetty said, none of the boards had raised any objections to India's decision:

"They (cricket boards) understood the situation. The Pakistan (PCB) president Ejaz Butt was there and met Shashank Manohar (the BCCI president). Butt realized the situation was beyond the control of cricket administrators. There is no love lost," Shetty said.

The worsening of Indo-Pak political relations in the last one month, since the terror attacks on Mumbai, seems to have given rise to a lot of rhetoric, especially from Pakistani players, with regards to the Indian Premier League. Batsman Younis Khan, for example, believes that the cash-rich league stands to lose a substantial fan-base if cricketing relations between the countries don't improve, and the Pakistani players do not participate.

Paceman Sohail Tanvir, who was the highest wicket-taker in the inaugural edition for eventual champs, Rajasthan Royals, even went to the extent of saying that Pakistani players were prepared to skip the second season, which takes place in April-May.

But Shetty brushed off the matter, saying the IPL wouldn't miss them much: "Ultimately we are also looking at the IPL's success with Indian players. It's not that if X, Y or Z don't come (from Pakistan), the IPL will lose out. That's definitely not the case."

That's indeed Big Brother talking!