Srinivasan set to be elected unopposed as BCCI chief

Chennai: Like him or hate him, you can't ignore N. Srinivasan. The most powerful official in world cricket has been facing unprecedented scrutiny ever since the IPL spot-fixing and betting scandal broke out. Brickbats from the public and media, chargesheet and a flurry of litigations -the BCCI chief has seen it all over the past few months. Yet, Srinivasan is unruffled and looks to extend his presidential term by another year. Sunday's AGM, scheduled at a posh hotel just across the road from his house, will help him strengthen his stranglehold on BCCI, the richest cricket body in the world. Archaic Board rules ensured his re-election was a mere formality . To contest against Srinivasan, a candidate required support from at least two of the six South Zone units, whose turn it is to propose and second a president. Rivals couldn't even garner one and showed no interest in dethroning him as the deadline ended at 4pm on Saturday . Extending his term apart, Srinivasan is set to reward those who stood by him in the aftermath of the IPL scandal that saw his son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan arrested and chargesheeted. Mumbai's Ravi Savant, the incumbent treasurer, is set to be accommodated in the core team as vicepresident. Rajeev Shukla and SP Bansal are the other new faces in the VPs list, while Chitrak Mitra from the East and Shivlal Yadav from the South Zone will continue. “Savant was entrusted with a specific job of delaying the MCA elections so that Sharad Pawar doesn't stand in Srinivasan's way . He managed that effectively by delaying the MCA elections to the third week of October. Now although he was never Srinivasan's first choice as treasurer, he had to be rewarded for helping the Chennai strongman,“ a BCCI official was quoted as saying. All those who filed nominations are set to be elected unopposed. The important announcement expected at the AGM is the successor of Shukla, who quit his chairman's post from IPL Governing Council. Sources say the BCCI is yet to arrive at a concrete decision as Dalmiya is not decision as Dalmiya is convinced with the name proposed -Ranjib Biswal of Odhisha -for the plum job even though both are from East Zone. Even Dalmiya's name is Dalmiya's name is doing rounds, but his health concerns could go against him. The AGM will also appoint other committees such as marketing, finance and jun ior selection. G. Gangaraju from Andhra Cricket Association and T.C. Mathews from Kerala Cricket Association are in for some key posts. Reports suggested suggested Gangaraju could be picked for treasurer's post, but it was awarded to Haryana's Anirudh Chaudhary, who was earlier to tipped to be the new IPL chairman. 'Jaitley will return after year' Arun Jaitley's decision to not extend his tenure as one of the vice-presidents of BCCI and give Sunday's AGM a miss raised many eyebrows on the eve of the meeting. But sources in BCCI said to not read too much into it as the eminent lawyer had “opted out“ to focus on the upcoming general elections. He would be back to take over the top post from N. Srinivasan in 2014, sources said. “Until then, Jaitley wants his trusted lieutenant S.P. Bansal, secretary of Delhi and Districts Cricket Association, to be vice-presi dent. Having said that, it will also depend on how the elections pan out. If BJP comes to power and Jaitley secures a plum position in the Cabinet, he may not be interested in the 'controversial' BCCI,“ the source said. Jaitley will not attend Sunday's AGM. Former IPL chairman Lalit Modi said the BJP leader's non participation at the AGM was a ploy. “Fans of cricket should know Arun Jaitley is behind Srinivasan and also the master strategist. Not attending AGM is just a ploy to look good,“ Modi tweeted on Saturday . Jaitley has long been hailed the next president of BCCI and the Board has even made amendments in the constitution to pave the way for him when Srinivasan completes three years at the helm. According to the amendment made in September 2012, if two full member associations of the zone whose turn (rotation order: West, Central, South, East Zone and North) it is to nominate the presidential candidate approve a person from any other zone, he can become BCCI president.