In season of comebacks, Shashank Manohar set for second wind

[related-post]

Manohar is not a plutocrat. Integrity is his forte. He’s known to be a hardliner who likes to do his job quietly. He had a mixed first term in office. His handling of Kochi Tuskers was firm and ruthless. Manohar banned the IPL franchise in 2011 for breaching its terms of agreement. In hindsight, that might have been a little knee-jerk reaction, for the Tuskers won an arbitration award, favouring Rs 550 crore from the BCCI. But Manohar had to be credited for standing against alleged malpractices.

Manohar also offered no mercy to Lalit Modi when he suspended the former IPL chairman in 2010 on charges of irregularities to various financial and administrative issues. At the same time, it ought to be said the then board president reacted late. It was a mistake to allow Modi a free rein and when the BCCI decided to run a check, the damage was done.

Then there was that controversial amendment to the BCCI constitution’s clause 6.2.4 that authorised Srinivasan’s India Cements to own the Chennai Super Kings. As a legal eagle, Manohar should have pre-empted the trouble. He was the president-designate then and part of the process. The amendment came with a serious hint of potential conflict of interest. The Supreme Court eventually struck down the clause earlier this year, leaving the cricket board red-faced.

All said and done, Manohar is perhaps the best man to run Indian cricket at the moment as clean-up has become the need of the hour. The BCCI’s handling of the 2013 IPL spot-fixing and betting scandal had been shambolic and Manohar rightly tore into the set-up, targeting Srinivasan, whom he described as an “autocrat”. “The BCCI has done nothing to improve its image and now the board has no option but to implement Lodha Committee’s findings,” he had told reporters on a private visit to Kolkata a few months back.

The Supreme Court-appointed committee has suspended the owners of Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals for two years, but Manohar has been a vocal supporter of terminating the franchises. Now, as the leader of the set-up, will he walk the talk? A BCCI ‘working group’ has put forward the suggestion to incorporate two new teams from the next IPL onwards, keeping the banned franchises in abeyance for two years. The proposal has to be ratified by the working committee. It would be interesting to see if the new president approves it.

Move on to Sundar Raman and here’s what Manohar had said about the IPL COO a few months ago. “Raman should have gone immediately after the Mudgal Committee report found him prima facie guilty of wrongdoings. He ought to have stepped down immediately at that time. Now, to restore the faith of people in IPL and the game, Raman needs to go.” Difficult times lie ahead for Raman if Manohar decides to rule with an iron hand.

And finally, Srinivasan and his International Cricket Council (ICC) representation…Will Manohar allow his bête noire to continue as the ICC chairman? This is a delicate issue which needs to be handled carefully.

Manohar has always been a Pawar loyalist. In fact, the association dates back to the time when Pawar was Maharashtra’s chief minister and Shashank’s father, VR Manohar, the advocate general of the state. Manohar had his mentor’s blessings when he came into cricket administration and became the Vidarbha Cricket Association president in 1996. At the helm of the BCCI affairs again, Manohar has to be inclusive. He needs to take some tough actions to clean up the mess. But he must also ensure political vendetta doesn’t colour his judgment.