Biswal named IPL chief, Srinivasan gets men of choice

The choice of the various sub-committees too bore ample testimony to Srinivasan’s stranglehold on the organisation as all the executive functionaries and heads of important panels are perceived to be close to the Chennai strongman.

Ranjib Biswal, the Odisha Cricket Association chief, was named IPL chairman, a post left vacant by Rajiv Shukla, who decided to resign at the end of his tenure this year. Biswal, a former first-class cricketer, was the manager of India during the 2011 World Cup triumph. He was also former chairman of National Cricket Academy.

The decision to appoint the IPL chairman took the longest time, given veteran Jagmohan Dalmiya’s name was also doing the rounds before the AGM. But Dalmiya’s age, 73, would have put him at a disadvantage in the demanding job. The 43-year-old Biswal, however, would be better-equipped to deal with the week-after-week city-hopping during the IPL.

The former all-rounder has five first-class hundreds and 153 wickets in 41 matches. Among other important positions, Sneh Bansal (north), Ravi Savant (west) and Rajiv Shukla (central) have replaced Arun Jaitley, Niranjan Shah and Sudhir Dabir, respectively, as vice-presidents. Shivlal Yadav and Chitrak Mitra have retained their vice-presidency from south and east zone respectively.

While Jaitley has relinquished his post owing to political commitments in view of the upcoming general elections, Shah and Dabir have been dumped for their perceived closeness to Srinivasan’s adversaries Sharad Pawar and Shashank Manohar.

Sanjay Patel and Anirudh Chaudhury have been named BCCI secretary and treasurer, respectively. These positions were laid vacant when Sanjay Jagdale and Ajay Shirke resigned in the aftermath of the IPL betting scandal.

Meanwhile, Srinivasan categorically said he was not taking charge of BCCI as per the instructions of Supreme Court but asked other office bearers to go ahead. ‘I have won unopposed but I am not taking charge,’ he said.