Nearly 48 hours after the BCCI submitted before the Supreme Court a list of individuals with conflicts of interests, only Sunil Gavaskar openly refuted the claims.
Apart from Gavaskar, the BCCI named former India players Sourav Ganguly, Anil Kumble, Ravi Shastri, Lalchand Rajput (name taken twice), Venkatesh Prasad, K Srikkanth, Brijesh Patel, Vikram Rathour and VB Chandrasekhar, and officials KS Viswanathan, Vijay Mallya, Jeet Banerjee, E Venkat Ram Reddy and Amrit Mathur.
In other words, the BCCI told the Supreme Court that if Clause 6.2.4 of the BCCI's constitution were to be struck down, then the above-mentioned individuals would be affected.
"This is a lie," a former India player said on condition of anonymity on Thursday. "I'm a cricket expert because I played the game for so many years. How can someone call me a BCCI administrator? Where is the conflict of interest?" he asked. So why hasn't he publicly refuted these claims? "I'm not as famous as Gavaskar," he said.
The moot point is that not even a single individual on that list has a conflict of interest. The BCCI has conveniently named these individuals in order to help Srinivasan's cause.
Take the example of No. 15 Amrit Mathur. He has been called a Railways representative. This is factually incorrect as he resigned from the post of executive director well before the first season of Indian Premier League in 2008 to join the Delhi Daredevils set-up.
Ganguly's case is also interesting. Ganguly played for Kolkata Knight Riders and Pune Warriors. Now, he is a joint-secretary in the Cricket Association of Bengal and an expert commentator.
Kumble was, however, president of Karnataka State Cricket Association during his time with Royal Challengers Bangalore (as a player) and Mumbai Indians (as a mentor). He also runs a company called Tenvic Sports. When dna contacted him, he said, "I don't want to say anything." Kumble is no longer a KSCA official.
Shastri, who till recently was a contracted commentator of the BCCI, is Team India's director of cricket.
Whereas, Rajput is no longer a joint-secretary in the Mumbai Cricket Association. He's a member of the managing committee, though. He is also a reputed coach.
Ditto with former KSCA vice-president and former India pacer Venkatesh Prasad.
KSCA secretary Brijesh Patel has no decision-making powers in the BCCI.
Former India selector Srikkanth, whose position irked the Supreme Court, also has a story to tell. "How can a national selector be allowed to take up any IPL's team mentor job," the court asked the BCCI counsel on Wednesday. But what the BCCI forgot to tell the apex court was that Srikkanth was brand ambassador of Chennai Super Kings when he was chief national selector. Srikkanth joined Sunrisers Hyderabad (as mentor) after he ceased to be a selector.
Former Punjab skipper Rathour, too, avoided trouble by quitting his job as assistant coach of Kings XI Punjab before taking up the job of national selector.
Another former player, Chandrasekar, has no conflict but for his job in Srinivasan's India Cements.
WHERE'S THE CONFLICT?
No. Name Position
1. Sunil Gavaskar No longer a member of the IPL governing council
2. Sourav Ganguly No longer an IPL player. Commentator and joint-secretary of Cricket Association of Bengal
3. Anil Kumble No longer president of Karnataka State Cricket Association. Owns Tenvic Sports and is associated with Mumbai Indians
4. Ravi Shastri Team India's director of cricket. Doesn't commentate
5. Lal Chand Rajput No longer joint-secretary of Mumbai Cricket Association. Is a reputed coach
6. Venkatash Prasad No longer vice-president of Karnataka State Cricket Association. Is a reputed coach
7. Kris Srikkanth Was chief selector as well as brand ambassador of Chennai Super Kings. In 2012, he became mentor of Sunrisers Hyderabad. No conflict
8. Brijesh Patel Karnataka State Cricket Association secretary. No conflict
9. KS Viswanathan Tamil Nadu Cricket Association official and India Cements employee (Srinivasan's confidante)
10. Vijay Mallya Member of Karnataka State Cricket Association's managing committee, owner of Royal Challengers Bangalore
11. Jeet Banerjee Former assistant secretary of Cricket Association of Bengal. Former manager of MS Dhoni
12. Vikram Rathour Resigned as assistant coach of Kings XI Punjab before becoming national selector
13. E Venkat Ram Reddy Vice-president of Hyderabad Cricket Association. Owned the now-defunct IPL side Deccan Chargers
14. VB Chandrasekar India Cements employee and commentator. Also runs an academy in Chennai
15. Amrit Mathur Representative of Railways in BCCI. Also a Delhi Daredevils official and columnist
16. Lalchand Rajput Name taken twice
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