IN its first set of sweeping changes, the Shashank Manohar-led BCCI regime has ensured that no stakeholder ends up donning more than one hat. Ravi Shastri, Roger Binny and Anil Kumble all had to forego important posts within the board. If Shastri is no longer a member of the IPL governing council, Binny, whose son Stuart is a member of the Test and ODI squads, and Kumble, who is Mumbai Indians chief mentor, have been replaced as national selector and chairman of the technical committee respectively. The biggest loser is N. Srinivasan, who lost his ICC chairman post, and is now reduced virtually to a mere “cricket enthusiast”.
The ultimate ouster of Indian cricket’s most unrelenting official, though, was only one of the many positive steps, as the new regime set about ridding the board of the conflict of interest albatross. The appointment of A.P. Shah, a retired chief justice of the Delhi High Court, as the board’s first-ever ombudsman, is as crucial a move. While during the Srinivasan era the solution for the myriad of issues facing the board was dealt with by appointing committees represented by “inside men”, the BCCI has finally taken a bold step by handing an outsider unprecedented powers to clean up its mess.
