BCCI's meet set to throw lifeline to Srinivasan

The all-powerful working committee meeting of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will take place in Chennai on Friday to discuss about deferring the Annual General Meeting (AGM) and a longer tenure for team director Ravi Shastri, who in all likelihood would be requested to guide India till next year's World Cup.

There are two meetings scheduled to be held in president-in-exile, N Srinivasan's hometown.

First the finance committee will meet for one last time to clear the annual accounts and other financial transactions. Then the working committee will be meeting in the afternoon where the decision to defer the AGM will be unanimously taken until Mukul Mudgal Probe Committee's final report on spot-fixing and betting in the sixth edition of Indian Premier League last year is submitted in the Supreme Court in the first week of November.

The decision to defer the AGM will be in the interest of Srinivasan, who is in running to retain the post of the president and is currently debarred from discharging his duties as the head of BCCI due to court verdict.

Srinivasan is supposed to be nominated and seconded by two east zone states -- Odisha and Jharkhand -- being the two likely units which is headed by his loyalists Ranjib Biswal and Amitabh Chaudhary. Even Assam Cricket Association, Cricket Association of Bengal, National Cricket Club (Kolkata) and Tripura Cricket Association are not going to swim against the tide at this moment.

With the Tamil Nadu strongman enjoying a two-third majority among the affiliated units of the board, the majority would want to wait till the Supreme Court gives its final verdict on Mudgal committee report.

The rival faction led by Vidarbha lawyer Shashank Manohar doesn't have the numbers to support its claim. Also with Manohar not ready to throw his hat in the ring, there aren't too many names in the fray at the moment as far as rivals are concerned.

While the BCCI constitution states that the AGM is supposed to be held in September every year, the Indian Cricket Board will be sighting extraordinary circumstances of president not being there to sign the annual report and other necessary documents.

While there remains ambiguity as to whether interim-president Shivlal Yadav can be an authorised signatory, the former off-spinner will tread a cautious path of deferring the AGM.

The second point will be about Shastri's appointment as the full-time team director till the next year's ICC World Cup. And as per sources, the former India all-rounder is pretty much game for the challenge.

One witnessed a turnaround in Indian team's fortunes in England after Shastri's induction in the support staff. India beat England 3-1 in the five-match ODI series after being thrashed 1-3 in the Test series.

"Shastri is supposed to intimate the (BCCI) secretary (Sanjay Patel) before tomorrow's meeting about his position. There is a bright chance that he will agree to continue but some modalities needs to be worked out," a senior official told PTI on condition of anonymity.

"It might be that he would like to join after the Test series and before the tri-series Down Under and continue till the World Cup. Since World Cup is the priority, these things needs to be worked out," the official added.

However, it is a foregone conclusion that Sanjay Bangar, R Sridhar and Bharath Arun will get an extension till the World Cup, while Joe Dawes and Trevor Penny will be offered a role at the National Cricket Academy.

Another important point that will be discussed at the meeting will be the fate of Rajasthan cricketers. The players are suffering because of ban on their state associations.

It will be interesting to see whether BCCI creates a new team to accommodate the Rajasthan players from losing out on a season of first-class cricket.

Image: N Srinivasan

Photograph: BCCI