After the sudden passing away of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Jagmohan Dalmiya, all stakeholders have started making their moves. An out of bound N Srinivasan hurried to Nagpur on Wednesday night and met Sharad Pawar to discuss their respective prospects.
Current ICC Chairman Srinivasan, who has been at loggerheads with Pawar for a long time, is learnt to have met Pawar for a couple of hours at former Central Minister and NCP leader Praful Patel’s residence.
Pawar is currently on a tour to drought-hit Vidarbha. Although the details of what exactly transpired in the meeting is not known, it is speculated that the current leadership vacuum in the Board was on the agenda.
In such a scenario, it’s safe to assume that his reported meeting with the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) president Pawar was on the lines of pre-poll discussions as in any other high-stake elections. If Srinivasan manages to coax Pawar and form an alliance, it will be very difficult for any other group or party to beat them.
And by installing an ally to the power, in the meantime, Srini can cool his heels until a favourble moment arrives for him to stake his claim to the throne. It’s worth noting that Srinivasan is currently awaiting an apex court green signal to attend BCCI’s Special General Meeting, which is expected to be held within a month.
Further reports, quoting Vidharbha Cricket Association sources confirmed that, Srinivasan was in indeed in Vidarbha to discuss strategy for electing the new BCCI chief with Pawar. The heavyweights met at NCP leader Praful Patel’s residence late last night residence in Nagpur late last night.
The National Congress Party president, who is touring drought-hit Vidarbha, has emerged as one of the favourites to fill in the void left by the demise of Dalmiya. But he is likely to face strong challenges from Rajeev Shukla and Amitabh Choudhary.
The two had been bitter rivals but of late there’s been a thaw. Srinivasan’s loyalists, on the other hand, will be having an informal meeting in Bangalore on Saturday. It’s East Zone’s turn to nominate the president until 2017 and BCCI joint-secretary Amitabh Chaudhary might emerge as a consensus candidate from the region, a development Srinivasan won’t mind.
Following the BCCI constitution, board secretary Anurag Thakur is likely to announce the date of special general meeting very soon to create ways to find a new president. The rule says, in case of the death of the incumbent president, the SGM should be held within 15 days, giving three weeks’ notice to the affiliate units.
