The Board of Control for Cricket in India under new President Shashank Manohar on Monday “hardened its stand on N. Srinivasan,” informing the Indian Supreme Court that it has “debarred the ex-president from attending any meeting of the cricket board because of his conflict of interest,” according to Dhananjay Mahapatra of the TIMES OF INDIA. BCCI's counsel K.K. Venugopal said, "Srinivasan stands disqualified from participating in the working committee meetings or any other meeting of the board as he still has commercial interest in the management of IPL T20 team Chennai Super Kings." Referring to the SC judgment of Jan. 22, in which Srinivasan was disqualified from contesting the board elections because of conflict of interest, Venugopal said that the claimed transfer of his shares in the management of CSK to a trust was a "sham transaction" and the ex-president “continued to suffer from conflict of interest.” Venugopal: "The restructuring of CSK was a sham transaction and his disqualification because of conflict of interest as a cricket official having commercial interest under Rule 6.2.4 continues. BCCI after taking legal view has taken a considered decision to exclude him from all meetings of the cricket board." Srinivasan's lawyer Kapil Sibal "disputed the BCCI's stand on his client's conflict of interest." However, in the face of the BCCI's "aggressive stand," Srinivasan's counsel appeared conciliatory. Sibal: "BCCI is a significant organization and it should not wash dirty linen in public. Parties should sit together, resolve differences and find a solution" (TIMES OF INDIA, 10/6).
SLIM CHANCES: The PTI reported the chances of Pakistan and India resuming their bilateral cricket ties this year in December were “dealt another blow” when the country’s National Security Advisor Sartaj Aziz said that he saw no chance of a revival in the current situation. Aziz, who is an advisor on national security to the PM, told the media in Islamabad that he was “not optimistic about cricket ties being revived between the two nuclear power countries because of the existing situation between the two neighboring nations.” Aziz: “I see no chance of cricket between Pakistan and India under the current situation. The situation first needs to be made favorable in other things as well first.” Aziz’s remarks came one day after Pakistan Cricket Board Chair Shaharyar Khan returned from India saying that he “would be meeting the new BCCI chief next week in Dubai on the sidelines of the ICC meeting” to discuss the planned series in the UAE and the MOU signed between the two boards to play six series between ‘15 and ’22 (PTI, 10/6).
