MUMBAI/NEW DELHI, May 31:
In a severe blow to BCCI President N Srinivasan, two top Board officials today quit piling more pressure on him to step down in the wake of the spot-fixing scandal, amid indications that more senior functionaries would resign in a bid to oust the Tamil Nadu strongman.
On a day of dramatic developments, BCCI Secretary Sanjay Jagdale and Treasurer Ajay Shirke sent their resignations to Srinivasan, saying they were deeply hurt by recent developments in cricket.
Bowing to intense pressure, Srinivasan convened an Emergency Working Committee meeting hours after information spilled out that the ICC had warned his son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan to keep away from bookies at the start of IPL.
Significantly, Jagdale, who is also a member of the three-member inquiry commission to go into allegations against CSK Team Principal Gurunath Meiyappan and CSK franchise owner India Cements, run by Srinivasan, also opted out of the inquiry committee.
“I have expressed my inability to join the probe,” Jagdale said when asked whether he would continue in the panel which has two retired Judges on it.
There was intense speculation that joint secretary Anurag Thakur and five vice-presidents will also put in their papers by tomorrow to put more pressure on Srinivasan who has steadfastly refused to step down, maintaining that he has done nothing wrong.
The five vice-presidents are Arun Jaitley (North), Niranjan Shah (West), Sudhir Dabir (Central), Chitrak Mitra (East) and Shivlal Yadav (South).
However, Chitrak Mitra denied that he was planning to quit. “I have no plans to quit nor am I under any pressure to do so,” he said.
The day unfolded with Jagdale, Shirke and Anurag Thakur calling Srinivasan and asking him to announce convening of an immediate meeting of the Working Committee by evening failing which they would quit.
Buckling under relentless pressure on him to quit, Srinivasan decided to convene the meeting of the Board’s all-powerful working committee to discuss the current crisis arising out of betting and spot-fixing in IPL.
Significantly, the Working Committee at best could only pile more pressure on Srinivasan to quit as it had no powers to vote him out, which only a Special General Body meeting consisting of members of all the state associations can do.
Mumbai Police sources claimed that during interrogation Gurunath, arrested on charges of betting, had told investigators that he was warned by officials of the anti-corruption unit to keep away from suspicious characters.
They said Gurunath did not use the word bookies apparently because it was obvious to him and to the police that he was dealing with a bookie like Vindoo Dara Singh and allegedly placing bets.
“Be careful, I have been warned,” Meiyappan had told actor Vindoo Randhawa who is also under arrest in the case. This is part of Meiyappan’s statement to the crime branch, the source said, adding Vindoo has corroborated it.
The source declined to reveal the name of the Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU) official and said they were yet to corroborate it with the ICC.
“We are yet to corroborate Meiyappan’s statement with ICC and we at the moment don’t even know if any person by that name (given by Meiyappan) exists,” he said.
The ACSU keeps players, team members and umpires under surveillance in order to check malpractices in the game.
Crime Branch sources said that at no stage BCCI was informed about the “dubious” activities of Meiyappan.
“The ACSU official was in direct communication with Meiyappan. BCCI was not informed about it,” they said.
Sources said when Meiyappan was asked why such warning was issued to him, he (CSK owner) replied “probably because of the company (Vindoo and other bookies) I kept.”
When contacted, Srinivasan said that the BCCI did not receive any warning from ICC on Gurunath or anybody else. He said he had checked with BCCI officials who also told him that there was no such warning to them.
Anurag Thakur also said there was no such communication from ICC to the Board.
The ICC, on its part, refused to go into the issue of purported warning to Gurunath.
“The ICC’s ACSU is providing its full support to the BCCI and India Police in the ongoing investigations,” an ICC spokesman said when contacted about the Mumbai Police claim.
Iconic player Sachin Tendulkar today lent his voice of concern over the “shocking and disappointing” developments that have rocked Indian cricket in the last two weeks and asked the authorities to take sincere steps to get to the root of the issue.
Breaking his silence, Tendulkar said the authorities must take sincere steps to get to the root of the issue and ensure that credibility of the game is restored.
The champion batsman, who retired from IPL after his side Mumbai Indians won the title recently, said as a cricketer he has always learnt to play in the true spirit of the game.
“It has always hurt me when the game of cricket is in the news for the wrong reasons. The developments in the last two weeks have been shocking and disappointing. As cricketers we are always taught to go out, fight hard, give our very best and play in the true spirit of the game,” Tendulkar said in a statement.
The milestone man of Indian cricket said it was important that the authorities get to the root of the problem.
“During this difficult phase, I join every cricketer, from the boys in the maidans across the country to those who represent clubs, states and the country, who trust the authorities to take sincere steps to get to the root of the issue.
“The faith reposed by the millions of fans should be justified and we owe it to them to ensure that Indian cricket is all about pride and joy,” the statement added. (PTI)
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