Rajeev Shukla quits as IPL head, all eyes on Srinivasan

Controversy over spot fixing lands three Rajasthan Royals' cricketers in jail, pulls up top officials involved in the game

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president, N Srinivasan, facing demands for resignation from several quarters, has finally called a meeting of the working committee of the board in Chennai on Sunday. He is likely to announce his resignation in the meeting, say sources.

Hours after Srinivasan decided to hold the crucial meeting which was demanded by many members of the BCCI, he faced further embarrassment when Rajeev Shukla resigned as IPL Chairman on Saturday evening. Shukla is third in the series of BCCI and IPL members who have resigned from their posts since Friday to protest continuation of Srinivasan as the BCCI President.

“I took the decision to quit in view of the recent controversies. It is a decision which I was pondering over for some time. I think it is time to step down. I was given the task of IPL chairmanship which I tried to perform to the best of my abilities. The tournament was organized well despite all the controversies. The stadiums were jam-packed which proved that IPL was still popular,” said Rajeev Shukla.

The meeting has been called after the board’s honorary secretary Sanjay Jagdale and treasurer Ajay Shirke resigned from their posts on Friday in protest against Srinivasan’s decision to continue as the BCCI chief.

“A meeting of the working committee of BCCI will be held at 2:30 pm on Sunday at Park Sheraton, Chennai,” said Anurag Thakur, joint secretary of the cricket governing body, in a statement.

Several senior members of BCCI, including Thakur, have said the involvement of Srinivasan’s family members in the Indian Premier League (IPL) spot-fixing scandal had brought disrepute to the organisation and demanded an urgent meeting of the board be called to discuss the matter.

“Wait for a day, you will hear something significant,” said Arun Jaitley, vice-president of BCCI, when he was asked about the meeting. Interestingly, Jaitley had met Thakur on Friday and it is believed that if Srinivasan doesn’t resign, more BCCI officer bearers would step down.

BCCI members have also asked Jagmohan Dalmiya, former board chief, to convince Srinivasan to quit and avoid further embarrassment to the board.

Srinivasan has come under attack after his son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan was arrested by the Mumbai Police on charges of being involved in spot-fixing in the recently concluded season of IPL. The police have alleged that Meiyappan was in touch with bookies and had leaked information on matches.

“It’s much regrettable and distressing that the situation is getting aggravated in an increasingly disgraceful manner. The matter pertaining the resignation Srinivasan should rather be a matter between himself and the rules and regulations of the board,” said Niranjan Shah, president, Saurashtra Cricket Association.

With each passing day, state cricket associations have come out against Srinivasan demanding his resignation. The first to take a stand was the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association, followed by Delhi, Assam and Goa.