May 30, 2013
MUMBAI/NEW DELHI: The game to oust N Srinivasan from the pinnacle of Indian cricket seemed to have entered the death overs on Wednesday, with powerful politicians like Sharad Pawar and the government openly asking for his resignation.
May 30, 2013
MUMBAI/NEW DELHI: The game to oust N Srinivasan from the pinnacle of Indian cricket seemed to have entered the death overs on Wednesday, with powerful politicians like Sharad Pawar and the government openly asking for his resignation.
"I feel sad about the state of affairs. There should be a probe into all IPL matches to find out if there has been any fixing," said Sharad Pawar
Breaking his silence on the recent IPL spot-fixing and betting scam, Pawar, a former chief of BCCI and the International Cricket Council and a top minister in the UPA government, said the matter should be investigated by the Union home ministry and Srinivasan should step aside till the probe was on.
"The image of BCCI has been tarnished. If I were in-charge of the organisation, this would not have happened. We need to restore faith of cricket lovers. The BCCI chief should step down till this investigation is on," he said, backing former colleague Shashank Manohar's suggestion that the scope of the investigations should be extended to cover all matches held in the recently concluded sixth season of IPL.
"I feel sad about the state of affairs. Lakhs of people who love cricket are angry," the Nationalist Congress Party chief told the media in Mumbai.
ENOUGH SUPPORT IN BCCI
If they lose faith, it is going to be a serious setback for the game in this country. There should be a probe into all IPL matches to find out if there has been any fixing. This investigation should be handed over to an agency under the Union home ministry," Pawar said. On a day that saw IPL Chairman and Congressman Rajeev Shukla holding several meetings with other cricket association chiefs, including Leader of Opposition Arun Jaitley, Srinivasan decided to brazen it out and even visited the BCCI headquarters at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai.
Asked to respond to Shukla's suggestion that he should step aside while the probe against his son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan, who is in the custody of the Mumbai Police on betting charges, is on, he said, "What he says is that this commission has been appointed and I should disassociate myself from the procedure as I stated in Kolkata when I did the press conference… I will not resign."
Voices of disapproval also came from Srinivasan's colleagues in the BCCI. Treasurer Ajay Shirke told ET Now he would have stepped aside if he was in place of Srinivasan.
Armed with enough support in BCCI to sail through – at least 24 of the 31-member body must be in favour of his ouster – Srinivasan has continued to defy all calls and requests for his resignation on grounds of probity and proprietary. Sources said he flatly said 'no' to Jaitley when he called him this morning to request him to step down. He also told reporters he would not respond to demands for his resignation by the likes of Madhya Pradesh cricket chief and power minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and chiefs of cricket associations in Hyderabad and Punjab.
Sources in the Gujarat Cricket Association headed by the state's chief minister and PM aspirant, Narendra Modi, said they were firmly behind Srinivasan as "he has done no wrong himself".
Srinivasan is also learnt to have the backing of the East Zone, and former head of BCCI, ICC and Cricket Association of Bengal Jagmohan Dalmiya on Wednesday raised a few eyebrows by telling TV channels that the IPL governing body should be held responsible for the mess. The nominee of the East Zone gets to become the next president of BCCI after Srinivasan's term ends in September-provided he doesn't stand and get re-elected.
Union minister and Rajasthan cricket body chief CP Joshi refrained from airing his views on the matter. Pawar spent a few hours on Wednesday at the BCCI office and held meetings with office bearers. Asked about the investigation being carried by the Mumbai police, Pawar said, "I cannot comment on the legal aspects of the case. The police in Mumbai and Delhi have arrested some people and the probe is on."
During the day, the sports ministry issued a statement that read: "BCCI is inquiring into allegations of match and spot-fixing. As there is a conflict of interest in this inquiry, the BCCI president should tender his resignation on moral grounds, pending the outcome of the probe.
Courtesy: PTI
