Never in the past has the return of a top-level administrator in BCCI
made the others, who form a part of cricket's administrative circle in
India, sweat like now. Shashank Manohar's return as the board's
president has left his supporters and detractors thinking alike - What
will be the man's first definitive move?
There are a host of
issues that Manohar will look to tackle, and for the most important
ones he's already set himself a deadline of two months. Among those
issues, the primary ones are the fate of
Chennai Super Kings and
Rajasthan Royals, the grey areas involving conflict of interest - the
most talked about being that of past president N Srinivasan - and the
future of IPL COO Sundar Raman.
Manohar
categorically underlined his intent that neither he nor his office will
be vindictive in its approach. But far away in Chennai, those who owe
their loyalty to Srinivasan sulked even as the Tamil Nadu bigwig spent
the afternoon playing golf.
"As far as Srinivasan
is concerned I have no stand because if he attends the board meetings,
he would be dealt like any other member. And whatever decision is to be
taken, it will be taken at the meeting," Manohar said of his former
colleague in BCCI.
As Manohar begins his second
stint, the SC-appointed Lodha panel is working on reforms that need to
be carried out in Indian cricket. The apex court has already mentioned
in its earlier order that Sundar Raman's role in IPL-BCCI need to be
further looked into. And in the middle of all this, CSK and RR wait with
fingers crossed how the board's new president will deal with them.
"It
is hardly 25 minutes since I have taken over. You can't expect me to
look into all the board records, all the papers and tell you what
decision the board is going to take. At least give me two months' time
and then you can ask me anything. There are a lot many issues and I have
to address each one," Manohar said about the franchises.
Apart
from resurrecting the board's image and reposing faith of the cricket
fan, priorities that Manohar underlined would be among the primary ones,
the above mentioned factors are some of the biggest decisions he'll
have to act upon very soon.
None in the board so
far has given an indication that Raman will have to go, despite the
hyped scrutiny surrounding him. Neither has any senior board member
suggested that CSK and RR will be terminated following the Lodha panel
recommendations. But now, with Manohar at the helm of affairs, nobody
really knows what's in store for all concerned.
Given
the vocal manner in which he responded on Sunday about bringing in
transparency within BCCI and eradicating conflict of interest, there's
quite a chance that the lawyer from Nagpur will not be averse to drastic
measures in his second term.
Srinivasan asked to withdraw perjury case against Thakur
Shashank
Manohar has requested the N Srinivasan-led lobby to consider
withdrawing the PIL filed by the former president against present
secretary Anurag Thakur. The allegations are of perjury, one where
Srinivasan has accused Thakur of trying to impress upon the court that
Srinivasan was one among three trustees with the India Cements
Shareholders Trust holding the Chennai Super Kings Cricket Limited
(CSKCL) shares.
Board treasurer Anirudh Chaudhary and
Kerala's TC Mathew have also filed affidavits against Thakur. The case
is scheduled to come up for hearing in the Supreme Court on Monday.
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