MUMBAI: If nothing else, the ongoing spat between the Indian cricket board and the ICC has been the most entertaining quotathon heard in a while. And they keep coming.
In the latest salvo to be fired, the never short for words combative BCCI vice president Lalit Modi has further upped the ante saying that India is prepared to withdraw from future one-day tournaments, including the World Cup, if the ICC doesn't let up on the matter of the MPA (members' participation agreement).
Modi told the BBC: "It (MPA) is a unilateral agreement which gives the ICC the right to modify and amend it any time they wish.
"I've never seen an agreement in which one of the signatories has that right."
"We don't have to play all tournaments. If things don't work out, we could choose not to play in the Champions Trophy and the World Cup," Modi told the BBC.
For good measure, Modi also brought up the issue (yet again) of India being cricket's economic lifeline. "If the BCCI does not sign the MPA, then the ICC's income would be reduced to 5 per cent of what it currently is," he claimed.