5 things to know about new BCCI chief Shashank Manohar

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced at its special general meeting (SGM) on Sunday that Shashank Manohar, a 58-year-old Nagpur-based lawyer, was going to return as the president of the sports body.

Manohar took this position for a second time and vowed to clean up the mess at BCCI by announcing a slew of reforms aimed at restoring the credibility of the ‘gentleman’s game’.

The BCCI chief’s chair had been lying vacant since September 20, when the previous president, Jagmohan Dalmiya, passed away in Kolkata following a cardiac arrest. According to BCCI’s constitution, a notification for an SGM to nominate a successor has to be issued within 15 days of an incumbent’s death.

Here are five key things to know about Manohan, the new BCCI chief:

1. A clear vision

Despite the hype and glamour surrounding the game, Manohar is understood to be a man with a clear vision. He is known to trust people but can be tough when necessary. Unusually for a successful lawyer, he can be blunt and he rarely attempts to camouflage or sugar-coat his views. 

2. Keeping his own advice

Manohar believes in keeping his own advice and doesn’t like to hog the limelight. Perhaps this is a reason why he shuns media attention and loves to be out from TV channel debates. However, it is said that he never backs out on any issue if he truly believes in it.

3. Pawar’s confidant

Manohar’s close relationship with Sharad Pawar goes back a long time. His father, V R Manohar, was the advocate general of Maharashtra when Pawar was the state’s chief minister. But Shashank Manohar’s status in the BCCI circle is said to have risen after he helped plan Pawar’s electoral push. His influence and stature in BCCI increased after Pawar became president.

4. Relationship with VCA 

Shashank Manohar followed in his father’s footsteps to become a lawyer but also rose rapidly as a cricket administrator, taking charge of the Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) in 1996. His son, Adwait, is now the vice-president of VCA. 

5. Manohar-Ganguly ties

When Manohar was at the helm of VCA, India’s national cricket team, led by Sourav Ganguly, came to Nagpur to play its crucial Test against Australia in 2003-04. The team was confronted with a green top. Coincidentally, skipper Ganguly fell ill and pulled out of the match, in which India were crushed to defeat by Kangaroos. This is believed to have created some differences between Ganguly and the administrator. 

But over the years, Manohar and Ganguly have not only patched up but also developed a healthy respect for each other. Ganguly, in fact, played his farewell Test in Nagpur in 2008 against Australia. And now, exactly after 11 years of the Nagpur Test defeat, in an incredible twist of fate, both Manohar and Ganguly are succeeding Dalmiya at different boards — Manohar at BCCI, and Ganguly at the Cricket Association of Bengal.