Shanta Rangaswamy quits CAC after being asked to explain of conflict of interest

Just hours after she was asked to explain a conflict-of-interest charge against her, former India woman's captain Shanta Rangaswamy has chosen to resign from the BCCI's Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC). Rangaswamy told ESPNcricinfo that she had sent in her resignation to the Committee of Administrators (CoA) late on Saturday evening, after all three members of the CAC had been served the conflict notice by BCCI ethics officer Justice (Retd) DK Jain.

Rangaswamy said she had also resigned as the director of the Indian Cricketers Association (ICA), the formation of which was one of the key recommendations of the Lodha Committee that was tasked with scripting structural reforms at the BCCI.

The charge against Rangaswamy questioned her dual roles in the CAC and the ICA. Rangaswamy, 65, said her intention was to serve Indian cricket but the rules did not permit her to do so, forcing her to step down. "I didn't want any needless controversy," Rangaswamy said. "Even for serving the game if there is a controversy, I felt I should steer clear and hence I have quit those positions."

The three-person CAC is headed by former India men's captain Kapil Dev, and former India batsman and coach Anshuman Gaekwad is the other member alongside Rangaswamy. This CAC was formed by the CoA to replace the original panel that was disbanded after Justice Jain upheld conflict charges against two of the old panel's three members - Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman - while the third member, Sachin Tendulkar, stepped down.

The complaint against both CAC panels was filed by the same individual - Sanjeev Gupta, a life member at the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association. In both instances, Gupta said that each of the CAC members was holding more than one position in Indian cricket, which was a clear violation of the conflict of interest rule that permitted only one post per person.