Mumbai, Aug 2 - The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Sunday rejected the controversial anti-doping clause of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) that makes it mandatory for players to make themselves available for out of competition tests.

BCCI strongly backed the players, saying that the 'whereabouts' clause is an 'invasion into the privacy of an individual'.

'Cricket should be free from doping. BCCI does not have any objection to that. However BCCI felt that players should be tested during the series or during the camps. They cannot be tested when they are not playing cricket,' BCCI president Shashank Manohar said Sunday.

The decision to back the players was taken at an emergency meeting of the Working Committee. Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and senior players Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh were present in the meeting.

The decision of the BCCI puts it on a collision course with the International Cricket Council (ICC) which is a signatory to WADA's anti-doping norms.