NEW DELHI: Former BCCI president IS Bindra has laid the blame for the current sorry pass the BCCI is in at the door of the man who not too long ago was the most powerful cricket administrator the world had ever seen – former BCCI chief N. Srinivasan.
“The seed of the board’s destruction as a sports body lay in the decision of N Srinivasan to defy the judiciary,” Bindra told The Hindu.
“Along with Sanjay Jagdale and Ajay Shirke, I had advised him to step down from his post of president at the AGM in Chennai (in 2013). But we were isolated because Srinivasan found support from five other board officials who chose to stay back in Delhi. He stepped aside but only aggravated the problems for the board,” Bindra told the newspaper.
Bindra was critical of the board’s decision to challenge the judiciary. “It was an ill-advised move. You can fight the government but not the judiciary. Their word is the law. There is a way of putting your differences across, but it is silly if you think you can take on the Supreme Court. The board should have complied with the reforms and later approached the Court to look at the issues,” said Bindra.
In Bindra’s opinion, the board made a blunder by floating the idea that the International Cricket Council (ICC), citing government intervention, would take action against it.
“Eighty per cent of the revenue for ICC is generated from India. If the Indian board is finished, the ICC would be finished too. Do you think ICC would have taken any action? It was poor thinking,” Bindra opined.
“There is no leadership. Experience has been wiped out because of self-inflicted woes. It is time they realise their follies and work to set things right,” he said.
A case of locking the stable after the horse has bolted?
