BCCI Announces Sweeping Changes

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has tightened its hold on Indian Cricket.
The 2 day meeting after India's horrific exit from the 2007 edition of the World Cup, the BCCI announced sweeping changes to get Indian Cricket back on its feet.
Ravi Shastri has been appointed as the manager of the Indian team for the tour of Bangladesh. Robin Singh and Venkatesh Prasad have been selected as the fielding and bowling coach for India respectively. Rahul Dravid has been retained as captain for the tours of Bangladesh, Ireland, and England. Sachin Tendulkar and Yuvraj Singh will be served notice to speaking to the media, the Board said at a packed press conference in Mumbai. It added that only the captain was allowed to speak to the media and that too not exclusively. Players have also been disallowed of having exclusive media contracts. All Cricket players will not be allowed to endorse more than 3 products, that too without taking prior approval from the board. Players will also not be able to sign endorsements 2 weeks prior to a tour. No sponsor can contract more than 2 players. The zonal selection system has been scrapped with immediate effect and the Ranji Trophy Elite group will be reduced to 10 teams from next season. All players will have to play domestic cricket and will undergo a fitness test before every tour. The BCCI also stated that the frequency of U-19 series' will be increased. All state associations must start Cricket Academies by the year 2009. The Players Match fee has been reduced to RS 1lakh per match, and RS 3lakh per series win. Also there are some bonus's for outstanding performances which I am not sure of yet.
BCCI's Statement in full (Courtesy Cricinfo)

Brief Summary (Courtesy NDTV):

• Former Indian all-rounder Ravi Shastri has been appointed as the Cricket Manager for India s upcoming tour to Bangladesh.
  
• Former Indian cricketers Venkatesh Prasad and Robin Singh have also been appointed as the bowling and fielding coach respectively for that tour.
  
• Rahul Dravid has been retained as the captain for the tour of Bangladesh, Ireland and England.
  
• Sachin Tendulkar and Yuvraj Singh will be served notice to speaking to the media, the Board said at a packed press conference in Mumbai. It added that only the captain was allowed to speak to the media and that too not exclusively.
  
• Players have been barred from having exlusive media contracts.
  
• All cricketers will not be be allowed to endorse more than three products and even then players will have to take prior approval from the Board before signing endorsements. Players will also not be allowed to do endorsements two weeks before a tour.
  
• The zonal selection system has been scrapped with immediate effect and the Ranji Trophy Elite group will be reduced to 10 teams from next season. All players will have to play domestic cricket and wil undergo a fitness test before every tour.
  
• The Board added that the frequency of under-19 tours will be increased.
  
• All state association have also been directed to start cricket academies from 2009.

The Board today mentioned that Ravi Shastri is now the Head Coach. They also Clarified the endorsements rule-Any current endorsements that the player has will be fulfilled- I.E. If Sachin Tendulkar has more than 3 endorsements currently, he need not cancel any of them. In my Opinion, the whole endorsements rule is crap. The whole idea behind it was that the Players won't get distracted by their commercials and money. Well, now the players are going to wonder how they're going to feed there families high-lifestyle with such limited income.