BCCI Elections 2019: Anurag Thakur rubbishes nepotism allegations

BCCI veterans are not eligible to be part of the new constitution, but it is believed that they are very much in control of the system through their family members who hold positions at the top level.

ALSO, READ | Mumbai Cricket: Abhishek Nayar Retires From First-class Cricket

Since last month, Jaydev Shah, who is the son of Niranjan Shah has been appointed as the president of Saurashtra Cricket Association and the daughter of former BCCI president N Srinivasan Rupa Gurunath has been appointed as the president of Tamil Nadu Cricket Association, while Arun – who is the brother of ex-BCCI president Anurag Thakur – has been appointed as the president of the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association.

In an interview with a leading media publication, Thakur said that all the required processes were followed in the appointment of these people. He asked why can't people see Sourav Ganguly being appointed as the BCCI president? Why can't people see Brijesh Patel being appointed as the IPL Chairman? Why can't people see other office bearers who didn't make it to the team even? He said that there is a new state of administrators in the state also. He went on to say that it was a democratic process where the voters decided whom to vote for.

ALSO, READ | Pakistan: Plea Filed In Lahore High Court Against Misbah-ul-Haq?

Rumours were rife that Ganguly's appointment as BCCI President was motivated by politics with the ruling BJP party, who were eyeing the Bengal elections in 2021. Thakur termed these talks as mere 'stories'.

He said that there were too many stories in the media based on too many people. He was not there to comment on anything. Ganguly was the Indian captain and he also was the president of Cricket Association of Bengal. He said if they questioned people like Ganguly also, then what were they looking at? 

Thakur said not only Ganguly but earlier as well, there was Dilip Vengsarkar, Shivlal Yadav, Brijesh Patel, himself and many others who played first-class cricket. They were elected via a democratic process and had come through the system into BCCI.  Anyone can come in and contest.

Thakur was vocal about his displeasure over the conflict of interest clause, saying it prevented talented former cricketers from offering their services to cricket. He said that most of the players were raising an issue of conflict of interest. If anyone wanted to offer their services to the game of cricket, he was being elected as secretary and he can't do anything else.  

BCCI's position had come down to the level of Zimbabwe: Thakur

Thakur also said India had to fight back to become the leader in ICC, saying the BCCI's position had come down to the 'level of Zimbabwe' among others. The goal was to get back their position in the ICC. India used to lead and contributed 70-75% of revenues of ICC, and ICC didn't pay back to the Indian board. Indian board can't take it easily, he concluded.

ALSO, READ | Dinesh Karthik Mocks Sreesanth's Sensational India Ouster Claim!

ALSO, READ | ICC T20 World Cup Qualifiers: UAE Wicketkeeper-batsman Goes Missing