The stand-off between the Board of Control for Cricket in India and its chief selector, Dilip Vengsarkar, reached flash point on Thursday, when the former India skipper was issued a show cause notice for continuing to defy the board's gag order.

The BCCI bluntly told Vengsarkar that he will have to quit as chief selector if he continues to function as a columnist.

Vengsarkar ignored the BCCI diktat and wrote his column for Thursday's Amar Ujala, a Hindi daily, and Sakal, a Marathi daily, prompting the BCCI to toughen its stand and serve the show cause.

"BCCI president Sharad Pawar [Images] decided to issue a show cause to Vengsarkar for continuing to write newspaper columns despite the Board's directives," BCCI vice-president Rajiv Shukla said.

"An explanation will be sought from Vengsarkar for the columns which have appeared in Hindi and Marathi dailies.

"The BCCI is of the view that if he wants to continue as a columnist, he can give up the post of the chief selector," he added.

Vengsarkar has been at the centre of controversy for continuing to defy the ban on writing columns and interacting with the media.

The BCCI had recently issued a seven-point guideline to the selectors which not only barred them from writing columns but also sitting in the Indian dressing room during international matches.

According to the guidelines, only one selector is allowed to witness an international match while others have been asked to watch domestic matches.

The guidelines peeved the selectors and some of them even threatened to quit if they was not withdrawn. But the threats were issued only through the media with none of them was willing to go on record.