Srinivasan, Dalmiya and the urge of playing a 'timeless innings' by BCCI politicians

It was after all a storm in a teacup. For all the hype and expectations drummed up by the electronic media about it being curtains for BCCI chief N Srinivasan, from all accounts the Tamil Nadu strongman seems to have had the last laugh as he has merely ‘stepped aside’ rather than resigned, as was forecast by the national media and hoped for by all those who had ganged up against him.

A week ago, I had alluded in my column for Sportskeeda that Srinivasan still had the majority on his side, based on reports that had emerged from the Kolkata enclave on the eve of the IPL final last Sunday and that there was no likelihood of him being forced to quit before his second year term expired in September. His ‘stepping aside’ for now may be a tactical retreat and a lot may transpire between now and then. But who’s to know?

The moot point is whether Srinivasan will be elected again for his third and last year. But given that he has now forged an alliance with the wily Jagmohan Dalmiya, who has a good hold on the East bloc votes and looks to have earned some support from the North bloc, this is not in the realms of the impossible.

It is the turn of the East Zone to have its president in the next round of voting and it seems that Dalmiya can make a comeback again, though a BCCI representative from another zone can also be in contention provide he gets proposed and seconded by at least one member each from the chosen zone.

The absence of president-in-waiting Arun Jaitley, joint secretary Anurag Thakur and Uttar Pradesh nominee Rajeev Shukla from this vital meeting is a classic case of fence sitting par excellence or an indication that a deal was already sealed, signed and delivered the previous night. Maybe they realized that the numbers were not with the opposition or they were merely firming up their alliances for the next round of electioneering so that their ascent up the ladder of portfolios is not put into jeopardy. They might well align with the opposition lobby next time around though. There are, after all, no permanent friends or enemies in politics, cricket politics too.

The biggest loss of face was for the Maratha Warrior who apparently decided to lead the revolt, hoping his long honed political skills would unleash the tsunami that would rally the assorted forces to the cause and sweep the Chennai Super King off his pedestal. That he was the leader of the pack can be gauged from the common ethnicity of the foot soldiers – the man designated to be successor interim president, whose name was bandied about in the media for a length of time or the two officials who resigned their posts in a pre-emptive strike to exert pressure on the southern cement baron. In the event, the existing fault lines in the BCCI derailed the attempt of this alliance from succeeding in its intended task.

The inspired leak about the ICC having warned Gurunath Meiyappan about his links with unsavoury characters at the start of the IPL-6, either directly or through a senior BCCI official, was used as the last straw to break the obstinate camel’s back and reason to mount a final offensive against the BCCI chief. The story seems to have died a natural death, at least as of now, and the ICC’s clarification was surprisingly not sought or obtained on the issue.

A ‘political analyst’ among the panellists on Headlines Today that assembled to debate the developments post the Chennai denouement last evening, reiterated what I had suggested in my column last week that Srinivasan’s conflict of interest vis-à-vis the ownership of the Chennai Super Kings was winked at by the BCCI members because some of them themselves may have held stakes in some IPL teams given that the investments into them suspiciously came via the offshore route.

That said, the recent happenings in cricket suggest that it is imperative that the provisions of the proposed national sports bill, which is being stymied by a range of political bigwigs across the party spectrum, be made applicable to the BCCI regarding the applicability of the RTI Act of 2005 and the age and tenure restrictions on the office bearers.

It is this situation that allows a Dalmiya to have an indefinite innings in West Bengal (even though he has scaled the summit in the BCCI and the ICC) or an I S Bindra (former BCCI president who was outmanoeuvred of the ICC president’s post by Dalmiya) in Punjab or a Farooq Abdullah in Jammu & Kashmir or a Sharad Pawar (who like Dalmiya has already achieved it all) to intend to return to the Mumbai Cricket Association, according to media reports. This must be rectified. We need new blood coming into cricket administration too. Perhaps the highest court in the land could intervene to make the BCCI as a sporting body accountable to the public.