It’s been less than a fortnight that the Indian cricket Board decided to do away Probir Mukherjee, one of the most experienced pitch experts in the country. And the veteran curator has thrown his options to the Indian Cricket League (ICL), in case an offer comes along. Mukherjee had been attached to the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) for well over 20 years, and he has been a key man for the BCCI in the past whenever it came to matters of ground and pitch preparation for international matches.

However, in a decision that is rumoured to have been influenced by reasons other than cricket, the BCCI recently decided to strike him off the elite team of five zonal heads for ground and pitch preparation.

Kolkata-based Mukherjee, who was earlier the Board’s east zone head and the sole curator-in-charge of the famous Eden Gardens for years, has been replaced by one Rabin Mukherjee.

Critics of the current Prasun Mukherjee-led administration reckon that curator Mukherjee was sidelined since he shared a close working relationship with Jagmohan Dalmiya during the latter’s heyday in cricket administration. The pitch specialist himself however says that he had been contemplating this treatment for a long time. In fact, he says that it was during the Indian team’s 5-day camp in Kolkata last summer that he had made up his mind to call it quits as far as the BCCI and CAB job was concerned.

“Towards the end of the camp (May 2007), team manager Ravi Shastri praised me animatedly in front of the CAB president (Prasun Mukherjee). Sourav (Ganguly) was there at the scene, and minutes later I disclosed to him that I won’t be continuing for long, much to his surprise,” Mukherjee told The Indian Express.

Interestingly, at a time when rebel league ICL is on the prowl for not just players but cricket logistics and administration experts, the veteran curator says that he won’t mind considering any offer from the Zee-backed initiative.

“I don’t know about the ICL’s plans and programmes. But if they come up with an offer, say, then I will think about it. I am out of the BCCI and CAB doesn’t mean I have given this up completely,” Mukhejee said.