N Srinivasan elected unopposed as BCCI president for third year

Defying intense criticism, N Srinivasan was elected unopposed as BCCI President for a third year during the Board's AGM on Sunday even though he will not take charge till further orders from the Supreme Court.

Srinivasan was the lone Presidential candidate put forward by the South Zone, from where he got the proposer and the seconder.

But he can resume his duties only after the Supreme Court gives its final verdict on the case filed against his candidature by the Cricket Association of Bihar secretary Aditya Verma.

Srinivasan's election was on expected lines despite the fact that he is facing intense criticism on the issue of propriety after his son-in-law and Chennai Super Kings Team Principal Gurunath Meiyappan was charge-sheeted in the IPL betting and spot-fixing scandal.

Srinivasan's company India Cements owns Chennai Super Kings.

During the first half of the AGM, other top office-bearers were also elected unopposed.

After Sudhir Dabir, vice President from the central zone and his west zone colleague Niranjan Shah were removed from their positions, Ravi Savant (west) and Rajiv Shukla (central) were brought in.

Another political heavyweight, Arun Jaitley, relinquished the vice-President's position due to his political commitments and was replaced by his Delhi and Districts Cricket Association (DDCA) colleague Sneh Bansal.

While Dabir is considered close to former BCCI chief and Srinivasan's adversary Shashank Manohar, Shah is perceived to be a confidante of another former Board head Sharad Pawar, someone who harboured the ambition to upset Srinivasan's applecart.

Haryana Cricket Association chief Anirudh Chaudhary was elected as Treasurer, a post which was to become vacant after Savant was formally made vice-President.

On September 27, the Supreme Court directed that “he [Srinivasan] won’t be allowed to take control till it decides on his fate.”

Other positions

In another important decision, Ranjib Biswal, the Odisha Cricket Association chief, was named the IPL chairman, a post left vacant by Rajiv Shukla, who decided to resign at the end of his tenure this year.

Biswal, a former India under-19 captain and first-class cricketer, was the manager of the Indian team during the 2011 World Cup triumph and was also a former chairman of the National Cricket Academy.

Among other important positions, Sneh Bansal (north), Ravi Savant (west) and Rajiv Shukla (central) have replaced Arun Jaitley, Niranjan Shah and Sudhir Dabir as vice-presidents.

Shivlal Yadav and Chitrak Mitra have retained their vice-presidency from south and east zone respectively.

While Jaitley has relinquished his post owing to political commitments in view of the upcoming general elections, Shah and Dabir have been dumped for their perceived closeness to Srinivasan's adversaries Sharad Pawar and Shashank Manohar.

Sanjay Patel and Anirudh Chaudhury have been named the BCCI Secretary and Treasurer respectively.

These positions were laid vacant when Sanjay Jagdale and Ajay Shirke resigned in the aftermath of the IPL betting scandal.

Patel has been interim Secretary so far and his position was only made permanent today.

Jharkhand State Cricket Association President Amitabh Choudhary was appointed head of the BCCI marketing committee, while Kerala CA boss T C Mathhew was handed charge of the National Cricket Academy.

Andhra CA Secretary G Gangaraju was named head of BCCI finance committee. Goa's Vinod Phadke has been entrusted with the responsibility of heading the media committee. DDCA's Ravi Jain has been named the vice-chairman of the media committee.