Will chair BCCI AGM in Chennai: Srinivasan (Third Lead)

Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president N. Srinivasan Sunday said he will chair the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the body Sep 29 in Chennai.

"Yes, I will chair the meeting," Srinivasan told media after an emergency meeting of the board's working committee here.

Pooh-poohing all criticism against him, Srinivasan said: "Did I do anything (wrong)? Was there any accusation against me? Only a section of the media is saying certain things."

Asked whether he was a relieved man, Srinivasan said: "I was always a relieved man. There was nothing against me."

Srinivasan had stepped aside earlier this year allowing former BCCI chief Jagmohan Dalmiya to take care of the day-to-day affairs of the board after his son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan was arrested in connection with spot fixing and betting during the sixth edition of Indian Premier League (IPL).

A BCCI-appointed panel of two former judges last month handed a clean chit to Meiyappan.

A board official, on condition of anonymity, said Srinivasan used his "presidential powers" to choose the venue.

A BCCI press release said that its interim chief Dalmiya chaired the working committee meeting here.

While Srinivasan presided when issues like signing the annual report and accounts and other technical issues came up, Dalmiya chaired the rest of the meeting, said a top BCCI official.

Dalmiya will continue to look after the daily affairs of the board till Sep 29.

"Dalmiya informed the members that there were certain constitutional and statutory functions of the president which would have to be discharged by Srinivasan in the next AGM. It was decided that the working committee would invite the BCCI president to perform his functions and attend the meeting," BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel said in a statement.

Patel added that BCCI's disciplinary committee will meet shortly to consider the report of BCCI's anti-corruption unit head Ravi Sawani on alleged match/spot fixing charges against the players during the IPL. However, another official said the meeting will be held Sep 13 in New Delhi.

Sawani, who investigated the matter, has already submitted his report to the disciplinary committee.

The working committee also gave in-principle approval to the recommendations of the National Cricket Academy (NCA) to set up a zonal academy in each of the five zones and a dedicated academy for the north-east states in Guwahati.

A board official described the mood in Sunday's meeting as "cordial with none of the members indulging in slamming or criticising each other".