Amidst extreme criticism and disapproval, N Srinivasan was elected unopposed as BCCI President for a third year. Srinivasan was the lone Presidential candidate put forward by the South Zone, from where he got the proposer and the seconder. But he can resume his duties only after the Supreme Court gives its final verdict on the case filed against his candidature by the Cricket Association of Bihar secretary Aditya Verma.
The choice of the various sub-committees bore ample testimony to Srinivasan’s stranglehold in the organisation as all the executive functionaries as well as the heads of the important panels are perceived to be close to the Chennai strongman. Srinivasan’s election was on expected lines despite the fact that he had his back against the wall on the issue of propriety after his son-in-law and Chennai Super Kings Team Principal Gurunath Meiyappan was charge-sheeted in the IPL betting and spot-fixing scandal.
Other top office bearers were also selected unopposed. Ranjib Biswal, the Odisha Cricket Association chief, was named the IPL Chairman, a post left vacant by Rajiv Shukla, who decided to resign at the end of his tenure this year.
Biswal, a former India under-19 captain and first-class cricketer, was the manager of the Indian team during the 2011 World Cup triumph and was also a former Chairman of the National Cricket Academy.
Among other important positions, Sneh Bansal (north), Ravi Savant (west) and Rajiv Shukla (central) have replaced Arun Jaitley, Niranjan Shah and Sudhir Dabir as Vice-Presidents.
Shivlal Yadav and Chitrak Mitra have retained their vice-presidency from south and east zone, respectively.
While Jaitley has relinquished his post owing to political commitments in view of the upcoming general elections, Shah and Dabir have been dumped for their perceived closeness to Srinivasan’s adversaries Sharad Pawar and Shashank Manohar. Sanjay Patel and Anirudh Chaudhury have been named the BCCI Secretary and Treasurer, respectively. These positions were laid vacant when Sanjay Jagdale and Ajay Shirke resigned in the aftermath of the IPL betting scandal.
Patel has been interim Secretary so far and his position was only made permanent today.
Jharkhand State Cricket Association President Amitabh Choudhary was appointed head of the BCCI marketing committee, while Kerala Cricket Association boss T.C. Mathhew was given in-charge of the National Cricket Academy.
Andhra Cricket Association Secretary G. Gangaraju was named as the head of BCCI finance committee. Goa’s Vinod Phadke has been entrusted with the responsibility of heading the media committee. DDCA’s Ravi Jain has been named the Vice-Chairman of the media committee.
So all in all, selection committee has been decided. Srini mama has been elected as the President yet again. Now let’s see what all has he in store for the Indian Cricket.
