Manohar Means Business. Here Are 5 ‘No-Nonsense’ Decisions He Made

Manohar’s taking his ‘cleaning up cricket’ campaign very seriously. Here’s the changes he’s made so far.

BCCI President Shashank Manohar along with BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur at the press meet in Mumbai on Monday.

(Photo: PTI)

Whatever I had said a month ago, that we would clean up the system and try to run the Board in a transparent fashion, we have done everything we could.

Shashank Manohar, BCCI President

Just a month in office and Shashank Manohar chaired his first Annual General Meeting at the BCCI headquarters on Monday. A few hours with the full board and the message was clear.

Manohar means business.

Here’s a look at some of the major announcements from the lawyer-turned-cricket administrator.

1. End of the Road For N Srinivasan

The BCCI representative to the ICC will be Mr. Shashank Manohar. Since the BCCI makes the nomination, he will take over as the ICC chief.

Anurag Thakur, BCCI secretary

Two simple sentences and Narainswamy Srinivasan’s standing in world cricket came plummeting down to a simple ‘President, Tamil Nadu Cricket Association’.

Caught in the middle of the 2013 IPL corruption scandal with his son-in-law found guilty of spot fixing-related charges by a Supreme Court-appointed committee, Srinivasan conceded his post as the BCCI boss last year. And now, he is being replaced by Manohar in the world body as well.

Manohar will complete the current BCCI tenure at the helm of the ICC, which continues through June 2016.

2. The Outsider Within

The Ombudsman appointed by Board is Justice A P Shah who would look into complaints of conflict of interest. Principally, we have decided on issues regarding conflict of interest. The detailing would be done by legal committee in two months’ time.

Shashank Manohar, BCCI President

Simply put, the BCCI have zero-ed in one man to make all decisions that may otherwise raise concerns of ‘conflict of interest’ within the board(Read: Srini deciding if his son-in-law was guilty of corruption in the IPL)

And who better than a former Chief Justice of a High Court.

This move is a direct outcome of Manohar’s number one promise when he took over, of removing all issues of ‘conflict of interest’. In fact, to this measure, he had even presented a three-page document on the issue to the board members before the 86th AGM today.

(Photo: AP)

3. Only One Binny Remains

The perception has to change, there should not be injustice on Stuart Binny, we can’t destroy his career. He can’t be drawing flak from media that because he is Roger Binny’s son, he cannot play.

Shashank Manohar, BCCI President 

As of Monday, one Binny has been removed from the BCCI’s payroll.

Carrying on on his ‘conflict of interest’ agenda, the new BCCI President has also ensured no more fingers would be pointed at his team’s selection panel. Stuart Binny’s father Roger Binny has been requested to step down after repeated questions on his presence in the committee that picks the Indian team for international fixtures.

Gagan Khoda and MSK Prasad were named the new members in the selection committee, replacing Rajinder Singh Hans and Binny.

4. 9 Cities In the Running for 2 IPL Teams

We are going to have a draft auction as far as the two new teams are concerned and we will allow five players each to them.

Shashank Manohar, BCCI President

The board in now in the process of finding the two new teams which will replace Chennai Super Kings and the Rajasthan Royals who are serving a two-year suspension following their team owners’ involvement in the 2013 IPL corruption scandal.

The process will begin after November 15 and interested parties can seek clarification till December 4, informed IPL Chairman Rajeev Shukla.

On Monday, the board also named the nine cities that would be available for the bidders to buy the two new teams in the next two editions of IPL. They are- Rajkot, Pune, Chennai, Vishakapatnam, Cuttack, Ranchi, Nagpur, Indore and Dharamsala.

5. DDCA’s Match On?

By November 17, DDCA has to come back to Board with all permissions from the state government, if they don’t then the match would be shifted to Pune.

Anurag Thakur, BCCI Secretary

Questions were also asked regarding Delhi’s hosting rights for the fourth and final Test between India and South Africa.

An earlier report in The Indian Express had reported that the match was in doubt with the DDCA embroiled in a tussle with the state Government regarding issues of non-payment of Entertainment Tax.

In an earlier announcement, the board also had declared that Visakhapatnam, Ranchi, Indore, Pune and Rajkot would be the five new arenas given full Test venue status.