Shashank Manohar Appointed BCCI President for the Second Time

Shashank Manohar’s first tenure as BCCI president was from 2008 to 2011.

© AFP

Mumbai: A new era has begun in the BCCI with Shashank Manohar being appointed unopposed as the President for the second time. His appointment was ratified in the Special General Meeting of the BCCI in Mumbai on Sunday. (HIGHLIGHTS)

All the six units of East Zone unanimously proposed Manohar’s candidature for the president’s post, reflecting Srinivasan’s diminishing hold in Board’s power politics. A BCCI by-election needed only one proposer from the zone which is electing the president and it was the East’s turn this time. Manohar got the nod from all the six associations and was the lone nomination.

Mr. Shashank Manohar elected #BCCIPresidentpic.twitter.com/ynbqlpnFGh

— BCCI (@BCCI) October 4, 2015

This will be Manohar’s second stint as BCCI President, having taken over from Sharad Pawar in 2008/09. It lasted for three years and it ended in 2011 when N. Srinivasan was appointed as the BCCI President. (N. Srinivasan Stays Away from Shashank Manohar’s Crowning Glory)

However, Srinivasan’s tenure was marred by the Indian Premier League scandal of 2013 and he “stepped aside” in the wake of revelations that his son-in-law, Gurunath Meiyappan, was involved in betting. Manohar was made the interim president when Srinivasan stepped aside and Jagmohan Dalmiya made a spectacular comeback as president in March 2015. (Shashank Manohar-Anurag Thakur Not In Favour of Pawar-Srinivasan Alliance)

However, the death of Dalmiya brought about an intense power struggle in the BCCI. Many pitted Srinivasan to come back into the fold but two factors changed the scenario.

First, Srinivasan’s camp lost steam after Vidarbha’s Manohar and Ajay Shirke of Maharashtra, both Pawar confidants, objected to a compromise with the beleaguered Tamil Nadu Cricket Association boss.

Second, Manohar, a senior Nagpur lawyer, was deemed as an individual who had a clean image and he was backed by the Anurag Thakur camp. Manohar was also accepted by the majority of East Zone units, who were given a chance to propose a presidential candidate till 2017. It was reported that Sourav Ganguly, the newly-elected president of Cricket Association of Bengal, would propose Manohar’s name and either Tripura or Assam could second.

Manohar’s appointment as BCCI President was a mere formality before the SGM as he enjoyed the support of several major BCCI factions. He emerged as a consensus candidate after he was reportedly backed by the Anurag Thakur-Arun Jaitley (BJP) faction. “Manohar is our consensus candidate,” Thakur addressed the media.