bcci
The BCCI have threatened to cancel first Test if there are no funds.Reuters

UPDATE: The Board of Control for Cricket in India threatened to cancel the first Test match between India and England if the funds were not released for the game. The Supreme Court heard the case on Tuesday and decided to allow BCCI to disburse Rs 58.66 lakh to the Saurashtra Cricket Association for the Rajkot Test. 

Had that not been done, the scheduled opening Test might have been cancelled, leading to an embarrassing situation. Five Test matches are going to be played in the series. 

Original story: The much-anticipated India-England first Test has hit a major roadblock with the BCCI moving the Supreme Court, asking for permission to distribute funds for the Rajkot Test. The failure of this may lead to unfortunate results including the cancellation of the first Test. 

The Supreme Court must also have understood the situation as it will be a huge embarrassment for the not only the BCCI but also the nation if the Test match is cancelled. The SC will hear the case on Tuesday. Until then, India cricket fans will have to wait with their fingers crossed.

Also Read

The situation came to such a stage due to the ongoing conflict between the BCCI and the Supreme Court appointed Lodha Committee, who have set some reforms to be followed by the cricket board for its smooth functioning. The board did accept some reforms, but ignored a few, which did not go down well with the committee.

But the BCCI recently said that it was impossible for them to implement all the reforms as the state bodies have not agreed to it. The BCCI needs 3/4th majority to agree to the Lodha's reforms. The committee, as a result of this, even asked the board to stop providing them the funds, but that also did not work to convince the member bodies. 

Now, the situation has worsened and come to such that the first Test has come into jeopardy despite both the teams already present at the venue gearing up for the match. The Test is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, and now it all depends on what the apex body of the land has to say about the matter (disbursing funds for first Test).