Srini to attend ICC conference

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Inder Malhotra [1]

The self-exiled BCCI president, N. Srinivasan is set to emerge from his break from cricket administration.
He will be attending the International Cricket Council’s annual conference in London from June 24 to 28 and to do which he will be making an exception to his own decision to ‘step aside’ from his duties as the BCCI president until a probe into his son-in-law’s involvement in IPL betting runs its course.
Sources close to Srinivasan aver that his decision to be at the ICC meeting in London was taken only at the instance of several senior board members who want him to be at the annual meet when important matters come up for discussion. There are no known heavyweights in the administration to oppose his move even though it is loaded with sensitive issues regarding propriety and conflict of interests once again.
Sources also clarified that Srinivasan will be attending three sub-committee meetings and not the executive committee which Dalmiya is expected to represent the BCCI.
“Some BCCI officials feel that Srinivasan is the best man to represent BCCI given the significance of the meeting. Vice president Arun Jaitley who is currently in London was considered too, but he showed no interest. Even Shashank Manohar’s name popped up, but that was again shot down much as it had been when he was proposed as the interim chief,” the source revealed.
As the BCCI working committee has decided to stick to its stand against ICC’s proposed uniform implementation of UDRS (Umpires Decision Review System), reiterating the Indian board’s views could be on top of Srinivasan’s agenda in London. The administrator has been vocal in his opposition against the technology because parts of it are predictive. A group of BCCI officials — interim chief Jagmohan Dalmiya, secretary Sanjay Patel and treasurer Ravi Savant — are likely to meet Srinivasan on Thursday.
The 16-member ICC conclave will be attended by the federation’s bigwigs like president, vice-president and chief executive, apart from all full member directors and three associate member directors. Newly-appointed BCCI secretary Patel will be attending the CEO's meet at the conference.
Meanwhile, Lalit Modi took a dig at BCCI officials for toeing the line with Srinivasan. “Allowing him to attend shows how hand in glove they are all,” he tweeted. It is widely believed that Mr Dalmiya, interim head if the working committee, will not take any other course of action except to rubber-stamp all of Mr Srinivasan’s decisions from the background.
Before he takes the flight to London, Mr Srinivasan has another important meeting on home turf. The 83rd annual general body meeting of the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association will see him being elected once again as the president for another 1-year term. His nomination, as per rules, will be made on the floor of the house on June 23.