Didn’t expect this from Shashank Manohar: N Srinivasan

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“I didn’t expect this from Shashank. He was the BCCI president when Modi was suspended in 2010. Also, his home association (Vidarbha Cricket Association) had supported Modi’s expulsion from the cricket board. It was a unanimous decision at the SGM. Shashank has been so critical of me (ever since the IPL betting and spot-fixing controversy broke out).

Now, if all that has been reported is true, then it throws a different light on everything. It seems that the whole campaign is motivated. This is very sad and unfortunate. I would also like to see how Mr (IS) Bindra reacts to this,” Srinivasan said, speaking to The Sunday Express.

The newspaper report said that an email had been sent by Modi on June 20, 2013 from his ID lalitkumarmodi@me.com to Manohar at his ID varshamanohar@yahoo.com.

“FYI, Thought you should know. Updated sahib today and scrap Rajasthan Royals and CSK. There deposit and bg encased (sic) should be blacklisted and teams should be freshly auctioned to new owners. This should be without compromise.” it read.

Then there was another mail, this time from Manohar to Modi on April 16, 2014, which reportedly questioned the line the cricket board lawyers took in the Supreme Court. The letter was to be sent to then BCCI acting head Shivlal Yadav. Modi forwarded the letter to his lawyer Swadeep Hora and power of attorney Mehmood Abdi saying: “Get done ASAP.get rca to do now.”

Manohar has refuted the allegation, saying he was not in “any kind of correspondence with Lalit Modi”. He claimed there was no way he could have sent out a mail. “You should understand that I do not know how to operate computers. So I’ve no idea what mails you’re talking about and who’s talking to Modi from that ID,” he was quoted as saying. Some BCCI members, however, appear to be far from convinced.

A Tamil Nadu Cricket Association office bearer feels the whole thing has made Manohar answerable to the board members. “This is shocking. This makes Manohar answerable to the BCCI members. We will raise the issue in the next BCCI meeting.”

At the moment, there’s an impasse over Srinivasan attending the BCCI meetings. He came to Kolkata to attend the working committee meeting on August 28 but the cricket board’s legal advisor UN Banerjee raised objection, citing lack of legal clarity over his eligibility to attend the meeting.

The proceedings had to be adjourned as president Jagmohan Dalmiya decided to seek the Supreme Court directive on the issue. The cricket board has filed the application before the apex court and the case is likely to be heard next week.

The BCCI will call an emergent working committee meeting as soon as it receives the order from the court. Fixing the date and venue of the Annual General Meeting (AGM) is likely to be the sole agenda, but the email issue will be raised on the sidelines. According to an insider, a lot will depend on the court’s observations, whether it makes Srinivasan eligible or keeps him off-limits. The former BCCI boss still enjoys a substantial support within the board.