BCCI throws its weight behind N Srinivasan, Sundar Raman

All is well? At least that's what the Board of Control for Cricket in India likes to think.

A day after a part of the Justice Mukul Mudgal report went public, the working committee of the BCCI said all charges against sidelined president N Srinivasan were baseless. The emergent meeting, which was chaired by interim president Shivlal Yadav, "felt that there is no taint on the conduct of Mr N Srinivasan and the allegations levelled against him by unscrupulous elements were baseless and were aimed at destabilising the working of the BCCI".

What's more, the BCCI also decided to extend its support to IPL chief operating officer Sundar Raman "to present himself in the Supreme Court". The committee also decided to further postpone the board's Annual General Meeting to December 17.

"The IPL COO gave his explanation relating to his role, with reference to the conclusions relating to him in the report. The members heard his explanation and decided that the board should support Mr Sundar Raman to represent himself before the Supreme Court," the BCCI said in a release.

According to an official who attended the meeting in Chennai, there was a "sense of relief" in the meeting room when copies of the report were distributed among the members. "We read the report thoroughly and arrived at the conclusion that Srinivasan (who was present as Tamil Nadu Cricket Association representative) has been exonerated by the panel," the insider said.

When asked about the alleged misdemeanours committed by Srinivasan (like branding his son-in-law, Gurunath Meiyappan, as only a cricket enthusiast and not taking any action against Individual No. 3, despite knowing that the said player was involved in wrongdoing), the explanation offered by the working committee member was stunning. "Did he lie? But that was not mentioned in the report presented to us today," he said.

Obviously, interpreting the report was never on the agenda. And on matters related to player No. 3, there was another strange response. "This player was reported for some wrongdoing during India's tour to Sri Lanka in 2010. The team manager (Ranjib Biswal) had reported the matter to then (BCCI) president (Shashank Manohar), but no action was taken. Mr Biswal explained his stance at the meeting. It was a small incident," came the reply.

According to sources, Individual No. 3 is a key member of Chennai Super Kings. During the said tour of Sri Lanka, the media had reported the presence of a lady in his hotel room. According to information available with dna, the matter was verbally reported to Manohar and Srinivasan, who was the BCCI secretary then. However, no action was taken against the said player even though he violated the players' code of conduct.

"There are ways to deal with such a situation. If the matter is not serious enough, then a verbal warning is enough. The said player was warned. It's like paying a fine of Rs 100 for jumping the red light or going to jail for a day," the official said.

The working committee also postponed the 85th AGM of the BCCI, originally scheduled to be held on November 2014, to December 17. It will be held in Chennai.

To put it simply, there was no voice of dissent at the meeting. Even the anti-Srinivasan camp kept mum.

What if the apex court doesn't allow Srinivasan to contest the election for president? "Let's wait for the November 24 hearing," the official, adding: "No names have come up for discussion. If Mr Srinivasan has some alternate name in mind, then we all will decide accordingly."

Ironically, in this exercise to defend Srinivasan and Raman, the BCCI forgot it had to restore the integrity of the game and earn the trust of the fans, the biggest stakeholders.

THE DECISIONS
Members were given a copy of the final report of the Justice Mudgal Committee and the conclusions were explained and discussed.

Members noted the conclusions in the final report of the Mudgal Committee and felt that there is no taint on the conduct of N Srinivasan and the allegations levelled against him by unscrupulous elements were baseless and were aimed at destabilizing the working of the BCCI.

The working committee postponed the 85th annual general meeting of the BCCI scheduled to be held on November 20 to December 17 in Chennai

Sundar Raman gave his explanation relating to his role with reference to the conclusions relating to him in the report of the Mudgal Committee. The members heard his explanation and decided that the board should support Sundar Raman to represent himself before the Supreme Court.

The committee approved the decision of the CK Nayudu awards committee which nominated Dilip Vengsarkar for the Col CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement award.