Srinivasan steps aside temporarily; Dalmiya to run BCCI affairs

N Srinivasan will not carry out his duties as BCCI president until the commission appointed to conduct an inquiry into the betting and spot-fixing charges in IPL 2013 completes its task. During this period Jagmohan Dalmiya, a former BCCI president and current head of the Cricket Association of Bengal, will run the daily affairs of the board.

It was the first time that a BCCI president has stood down in whatever capacity and a replacement named in his stead.

"Mr. N Srinivasan announced that he will not discharge his duties as the president of the board till such time that the probe is completed. Till such time, Mr. Jagmohan Dalmiya will conduct the day to day affairs of the board," the BCCI said in a release after a meeting of its working committee in Chennai on Sunday. "The committee expressed full confidence in Mr. Sanjay Jagdale and Mr. Ajay Shirke and requested them to withdraw their resignations in the larger interest of the board."

However, Jagdale and Shirke, the board secretary and treasurer who resigned on Friday, said they would not return to the BCCI, leaving two vital administrative posts vacant. Srinivasan told NDTV that the administration of the board in such a situation could be worked out.

Later on Sunday evening BCCI vice-president Arun Jaitley, who along with Rajiv Shukla and Anurag Thakur attended the meeting via teleconference from Delhi, said that the working committee would effectively run the board, by having to ratify Dalmiya's decisions. "Mr Dalmiya will look after the responsibilities. He will get decisions ratified by the board," he told Times Now. "The entire administration will be done by the working committee of the board. Whatever Mr Dalmiya decides will have to be ratified by the board."

The BCCI's press release did not mention who would constitute the new panel to investigate Gurunath Meiyappan, the Chennai Super Kings official arrested on charges of betting, the Super Kings owners India Cements, and the owners of Rajasthan Royals. The three-member panel formed on May 28 by the IPL governing council to look into corruption charges around IPL 2013 was automatically nullified after Jagdale's resignation. IS Bindra, the Punjab Cricket Association president, told ESPNcricinfo that the two High Court judges appointed to the panel will remain, and Jagdale's replacement will be appointed by Dalmiya. Bindra said he was told by Jaitley that the judges could not be replaced because, "it will be disrespect to the judges."

Bindra also told Times Now that he was the only person at the working committee meeting who asked for Srinivasan's resignation. "Mr. Jaitley has had his way in this meeting. Most of the suggestions came from Mr Jaitley, including the appointment of Mr. Dalmiya," Bindra said. "Srinivasan is not resigning. He is just stepping aside for one month. This is taking the public for a ride. We needed something more than this. I suggested, let him step aside until September, but he said he is not going to resign."

Srinivasan, however, contradicted Bindra, and said that Bindra had not asked him to resign at the meeting. "The meeting was very smooth. There was no acrimony," Srinivasan told NDTV. "The members appreciated what were the tasks ahead of the BCCI. This announcement I made after all members had expressed their views. This was well received. Then Mr Dalmiya was appointed."

A BCCI member, who was present in the meeting, said no one asked for Srinivasan's resignation during the meeting. "Once the president clarified in his opening address the he will not quit, nobody sought his resignation," he said. "Though Shirke and Bindra were vocal in questioning the technicalities, even they didn't demand his resignation." Three other members confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that 'resignation' was not mentioned during the meeting at all.

The BCCI did not specify what post Dalmiya would occupy, though, and as yet his role was undefined. The legitimacy of his position, according to the BCCI constitution, was not established.