N. Srinivasan’s allies rewarded with top posts

Dubai: The Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) Annual General Meeting on Sunday rewarded all those who supported N. Srinivasan to remain as the President of the BCCI for another term with top positions in the board.

Two vice presidents who hesitated to support Srinivasan lost their positions, revealing the stronghold that Srinivasan has managed to garner amidst huge public outcry for his removal. Niranjan Shah, who is a strong supporter of former BCCI President Sharad Pawar, and Sudhir Dabir, a supporter of former BCCI President Shashank Manohar, failed to get an extension.

Former Indian under-19 captain and the Odisha Cricket Association president Ranjib Biswal, who backed Srinivasan strongly, was named the new chairman of the Indian Premier League (IPL) governing council.

Sanjay Patel was elected as secretary and Anirudh Chaudhary as treasurer. Both belong to the Srinivasan lobby. Srinivasan, who quelled any chance of opposition through support from all the South Zone states, rewarded every state with influential positons.

Anil Kumble of Karnataka and Shivlal Yadav of Hyderabad retained their positions as technical committee chairman and vice-president, respectively.

Not taking charge

Though Srinivasan was re-elected he will not be able to exercise his powers as the president due to a Supreme Court ruling. The Cricket Association of Bihar had moved the Supreme Court last Monday to prevent Srinivasan’s re-election for a third term on the grounds that his son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan is facing a probe on betting allegations in the IPL.

Srinivasan has preferred secretary Sanjay Patel to run the board’s affairs instead of asking Jagmohan Dalmiya to continue as the interim president till the legal battles are over.

Amidst all the drama, the issues of India’s tour to South Africa was not discussed.