A host of former Indian players, including Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, are in favour of the country taking part in the Champions Trophy to be held in the United Kingdom next month, according to a report. A report in 'Espncricinfo' said that Tendulkar and Dravid were among a group of 12 former cricketers who want India to play the upcoming Champions Trophy. The website said that Tendulkar, Dravid, Zaheer Khan, Gundappa Viswanath, Sandeep Patil, Sanjay Manjrekar, Aakash Chopra, Ajit Agarkar, Venkatesh Prasad, Saba Karim, Murali Kartik and Deep Dasgupta were "unanimous" that India should attempt to defend the Champions Trophy title.
The BCCI is seriously mulling a pullout from the Champions Trophy despite the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators making it clear that such a decision could not be taken without its consent. The Board is likely to take a decision in this regard at its special general body meeting on May 7 in New Delhi The doubt over India's participation in the Champions Trophy arose after the BCCI deliberately missed the deadline for submission of squad.Agencies