IPL spot-fixing: Have requested N Srinivasan to hold a Special General Meeting, says BCCI Jt. Secretary Anurag Thakur
When the scandal had just hit IPL, Thakur had lambasted former players, who criticised the event in the wake of the ongoing spot-fixing controversy, saying that they themselves were minting money from the cash-rich league.
BCCI Joint Secretary Anurag Thakur said on Friday that he has requested Board president N Srinivasan and honorary secretary Sanjay Jagdale to convene a Special General Meeting (SGM) to allow members to speak on the spot-fixing scandal that has rocked Indian cricket.
"The image of the sport has taken a beating but it is our responsibility now to correct that", Mr Thakur said, adding that he expected other members to speak their minds, as he himself would do. Mr Thakur also represents the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association on the Board (which has 31 full members), which is one of the 9 bodies who are reportedly anti-Srinivasan. (Also read: Sachin 'hurt' to see cricket in news for wrong reasons)
"I will speak my mind at the Special General Meeting of the BCCI," he said while talking to reporters.
Thakur also said that Mr. Srinivasan too has considered holding a SGM but categorically denied that it will be a 'Numbers game'.
"A meeting has to be called by the President and Secretary. It's a not a numbers game. Very soon, the BCCI Secretary and the President will call a meeting, we have to wait," he said. ('Stop IPL temporarily to clean up Indian cricket')
Mr Srinivasan is under tremendous pressure from many quarters to resign as board president as his son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan is accused of betting and has been arrested. An inquiry has been set to investigate charges against Mr Meiyappan and three now suspended players of the Rajasthan Royals franchise - S Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan - in the spot-fixing scandal that hit the sixth edition of the Indian Premier League this month.
Mr Srinivasan's detractors say with the Board that he heads investigating his son-in-law there is deep conflict of interest in Mr Srinivasan continuing as BCCI president. Mr Srinivasan has ruled out resigning and points out that he has promised to stay away from the inquiry.
In an exclusive poll on Thursday, NDTV reported that to remove N Srinivasan, at least 10 BCCI members have to make a written submission to convene a Special General Meeting (SGM) of the board. Voting would then take place and even if eight full members are with Srinivasan, he would stay on. As of now, sources say, he has at least 11 members who support him. And at least ten others are reportedly undecided.
Mr Srinivasan is an elected functionary and to have him removed as BCCI chief, at least three-fourths of the 30 full members - each representing a cricket body - of the board must vote against him.
This is how the board is currently reportedly split:
Pro-Srinivasan: 11 bodies - Odisha, Jharkhand, Haryana, J&K, Saurashtra, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Vidarbha, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
Anti-Srinivasan: 9 bodies - Assam, Tripura, Delhi, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Baroda, Madhya Pradesh, and Kerala.
Undecided: 10 bodies - Bengal, Mumbai, Cricket Club of India, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, Goa, National Cricket Club, Services, Universities and Railways.