Chief Administrative Officer Ratnakar Shetty said efforts to move the BCCI into a bigger complex was on the cards for a long time but the plan was finally realised under Sharad Pawar's rule.
"For the last 10 years there have been serious efforts to change the place," explained Shetty.
"After the Shiv Sena attacks on the office (January 18, 1999) there were talks that the headquarters will be moved out of Mumbai. But Mumbai has been registered as the headquarters in the BCCI constitution, so to move it out of the city would take a decision by the AGM.
"But the AGM decided to keep the office in Mumbai. We had some offers from a private place along with the offer from CCI and the MCA. Somehow, the CCI deal did not come through.
"Mr Sharad Pawar took a lot of interest in it. When Sushil Kumar Shinde was the chief minister, Pawar got the lease agreement amended to help MCA remain at the Wankhede. It is only because of him that things have happened; since the offer was there we took the decision in January."
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