18 April 2024 last updated at 15:13 GMT
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An unbelievable mess thanks to unbelievable arrogance
By Lalit K Modi, 5th June, 2013
Who on earth does N. Srinivasan think he is?
Here is a man who refuses to acknowledge his position as President of the BCCI is untenable and not only merely 'steps aside' when he should be making a permanent exit, but also issues a series of conditions before he does so. It's unbelievable.
First of all he demands that the interim President should not come from outside the BCCI and so Jagmohan Dalmiya was appointed at the behest, of Mr. Srinivisan’s co-collaborator, Vice-President Arun Jaitley. As I predicted in my last blog, all they're doing is moving the pieces around the board. The same administration is operating the same cover up with the pieces in a slightly different order. Make no mistake about it, Mr. Srinivasan will still be pulling the strings, it's just that from a public perspective, they given the impression they're 'doing something'. They're not. It's a sham.
Mr. Srinivasan has also said he'll continue to represent India at the ICC. How can the ICC themselves allow that? Later this month, the ICC's annual conference takes place in London, but how can the ICC justify a man who's been forced, kicking and screaming to step aside in his own country, be allowed to sit at their table? How can a man who has presided over the most disgraceful and embarrassing episode in Indian cricket history, be allowed to influence decisions for the rest of the world? It tells you everything about the dangerous hold there is within the BCCI and it's time the ICC stood up for themselves.
Not only are we talking about a man who was President of an organisation that's been shaken to it's core by allegations of widespread corruption, but also a man who was President of an organisation that was recently accused of rigging a ballot to ensure an Indian representative was elected to a senior ICC position. How many more reasons will it take before someone becomes brave enough to act?
The man at the centre of a wilfully misleading strategy is Arun Jaitley. N. Srinivasan’s faithful servant is clearly pulling the strings behind the scenes with complete disregard for anyone and anything outside their power crazy group. He certainly has an agile legal brain but he’s using it to create the biggest smokescreen Indian cricket has ever seen to keep the inner sanctum intact while pretending to be pro-active. Mr. Jaitley has even had the audacity to say that Mr. Srinivasan will maintain an “arms length distance” from the investigations. WHAT?!!
I suppose he couldn’t say; “would not be involved” because that, of course would be untrue. It’s manipulation and the public is expected to swallow this nonsense. They are killing Indian cricket for their own ends.
And what of Rajiv Shukla’s resignation as Chairman of the IPL? Leaving the post certainly doesn’t absolve him from any blame. As Rome burned, Shukla did nothing when it was his responsibility to identify crises and act. In 20 months since his appointment, the IPL has gone downhill faster than anyone could’ve imagined so I suppose his departure is one piece of good news. Even so, is it just another part of Mr. Jaitley’s masterplan? Another piece in the jigsaw whereby someone from the inner sanctum takes a public fall for effect. Obviously the Governing Council still includes Mr. Jaitley himself, so the inner sanctum still have control. The more things change, the more they stay the same. Nice tactic if you can pull it off and don’t care about anyone else.
The whole thing is a disgrace to the nation of India. There are thousands of people in the regions who's professional or social connection to the game is crying out for a message of hope. Instead, the sport in India is being held to ransom and the subject of global ridicule.
You'll probably know that my last blog championed the cause of the Punjab Cricket Association President, I.S. Bindra as the ideal candidate to put Indian cricket back on course. In re-iterating that endorsement here, I note that Mr. Bindra has said the recent decisions to do everything and nothing are; "taking the public for a ride." He is absolutely right. Sadly, there are not enough people with Mr. Bindra's strength of conviction to stand up and be counted. Everyone else is feathering their own nest with no care for the rest.
The excellent website ESPN cricinfo continues to reflect the situation on an ongoing basis and their correspondent Amol Karhadkar summed it up nicely with the observation that the situation we have now is exactly the position that was suggested to Mr. Srinivasan when it all started two weeks ago. Amol also says that by the time the working committee was finally called together, the agenda had moved from the crisis in the BCCI to saving an individual. Absolutely correct.
This whole thing is about saving individuals not about saving Indian cricket. The pressure must be maintained to force wholesale change. Indian cricket needs to get rid of them all and start again. It is the only way and the ICC must play it's part.
India's future credibility and dignity is at stake and at the moment and those who remain in charge, simply don't care. We must enforce total change, before it’s too late.
Follow my thoughts on the BCCI crisis through my Twitter account @lalitkmodi
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