Former International Cricket Council and Bangladesh Cricket Board president AHM Mustafa Kamal has appreciated the move taken by the Board of Control for Cricket in India to dethrone Narayanaswami Srinivasan as the chairman of world cricket’s regulatory body.
The decision to remove Srinivasan was taken in the 86th Annual General Meeting of the BCCI yesterday, virtually signalling the end of his hold on world cricket. The BCCI nominated its recently-elected president Shashank Manohar as the chief of the ICC.
Kamal, who had resigned from his post of ICC president following a dispute with Srinivasan in April this year, said, “World cricket had got polluted because of [Srinivasan]. I believe the BCCI’s decision to remove him from the ICC chairman’s post will allow fresh air into the cricketing arena.”
Kamal during a press conference in the sidelines of the second one-day international between Bangladesh and Zimbabwe at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium yesterday said Srinivasan’s removal is great news for world cricket.
“I believe cricket will see the true meaning of globalisation now. We wanted cricket to flourish throughout the world, like football, but Srinivasan was against it. He was the one who dissolved the ACC (Asian Cricket Council). Now, the “big three” (comprising the cricket boards of India, England and Australia) will encounter tough times in order to survive,” said Kamal.
Srinivasan, who took over in June last year, will now be replaced by Manohar. Manohar will stay at the helm till June next year as it is India’s turn at the moment to name an ICC chairman of its choice.
It was learnt that the resolution favouring replacing Srinivasan with Manohar was passed at the AGM. In case Manohar is unable to attend the ICC meetings, Sharad Pawar will be India’s representative.
Kamal while talking to the media also said Srinivasan was against the Bangladesh Premier League Twenty20. The former BCB president said Srinivasan and his board were afraid with the possibility of the cash-rich BPL taking some gloss off the Indian Premier League T20.
“BPL is our pride. After IPL, our BPL is the most followed and successful Twenty20 tournament in the world. It was being hard for Srinivasan to accept it and he had threatened me one day that he would stop the tournament. He said the popularity and the revenue generation of the IPL was getting affected due to the BPL, but I had said no. We will not stop the BPL at any cost,” said Kamal.
Kamal also thinks the negative issues surrounding the BPL were triggered by Srinivasan.
Following a two-year hiatus, the BPL is all set to roll on the field on November 22.
Source: Dhaka Tribune
