Shashank Manohar denies quitting BCCI post for ICC elections

Shashank Manohar quit the post of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) President yesterday and there were speculations about him quitting the post in a bid to contest the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) independent presidential elections.

In an interview with TOI, Manohar clearly sidelined this idea and clarified that he did not quit the post for the ICC’s election. He cited that the BCCI is a very strong and powerful organization and hence it makes no sense to quit a job as powerful as that. He further affirmed that he could have served both duties but chose not to.

“The whole world knows how powerful the BCCI president’s post is in the global context. Why would I quit a post if I had been angling for it [ICC chairmanship]?,” quoted Shashank Manohar.

“I could have continued to be the BCCI president as well as the ICC chairman, and not pushed for a change in the global body to have an independent head,” he added.

Earlier Manohar had taken over the ICC Chairman post, replacing N Srinivasan. He immediately brought in reforms under which he announced to decentralize the powers from the big three and have an independent presidential elections in the ICC. As per the earlier rotational plan, the Big Three, BCCI, ECB and CA, would select representatives to serve as ICC Chairman in a rotational policy.

Manohar suggested that under the previous system the chairman was not serving as an independent official and it was “unethical” for him to continue as ICC chairman once he had resigned from the BCCI. “There was a conflict of interest in the ICC which needed to be addressed. For example, if I am the ICC chairman and also the BCCI president, can I be expected to adjudicate fairly, or without bias, on any issue pertaining to Indian cricket?,” he quipped.

In a defence to his suggestion of contesting independent presidential elections, Manohar quoted, “As BCCI’s nominee, am I not duty-bound to fight for our cause? On the other hand, as ICC chairman, I am expected to protect its interests. That’s why I have proposed that the post of the ICC chairman should be made independent and it has been accepted unanimously.”

Shashank Manohar served as the BCCI president for a period of 8 months from September 2015.

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