Top BCCI officials quit, pressure mounts on Srini

In a severe blow to BCCI president N Srinivasan, two senior BCCI officials quit on Friday, piling more pressure on him to step down on a day he convened a working committee meeting after information spilled out that ICC had warned his son-in-law to keep away from bookies at the start of IPL.

BCCI secretary Sanjay Jagdale, himself a former cricketer, and treasurer Ajay Shirke sent their resignations to Srinivasan, saying they were deeply hurt by the recent developments.

Significantly, Jagdale, who is also a member of the three-member inquiry commission to probe the 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.

It was a day of dramatic developments with Jagdale, Shirke and joint secretary Anurag Thakur calling Srinivasan, asking him to announce convening of an immediate meeting of the working committee by evening, failing which they threatened to quit. But it was another matter that even as Srinivasan initiated the process of calling such a meeting on probably 8 June, the two office-bearers announced their decision to quit in what is seen as a pressure tactics to ensure the Srinivasan’s ouster. Both Jagdale and Shirke declined to ask Srinivasan to quit, saying it was his individual decision.More on PG14