Published: Jun 16, 2015, 06:18 PM (IST)
Edited: Jun 16, 2015, 06:18 PM (IST)
Lalit Modi is in the news again for all the wrong reasons. Meanwhile, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is in the process of cleaning itself up, severing ties with the controversial N Srinivasan. With Modi still on the lookout for getting back into cricket administration, David Sidrat feels perhaps it would be best if Indian cricket got someone else entirely at the helm.
Lalit Modi is, to put it simply, a businessman to the core. Whether he likes cricket is beside the point. In his pomp he was able to take down the rebel cricket league that preceded Indian Premier League (IPL), and in the process launched what is now known and loved (by some anyway) as the grandest T20 league in the world. Lalit Modi’s Blue Corner Notice still stands: DRI
N Srinivasan is also a businessman. To his credit, he is an excellent one at that; perhaps too good. As a top BCCI honcho he allegedly manipulated things in his favour. By the time Modi’s IPL came to fruition, he had his fingers dipped firmly in the honey pot. He was soon the kingpin of BCCI; Modi was nowhere to be seen.
Srinivasan and Modi had reached a point from which there was no coming back. Modi has been trying to claw his way back ever since. Most recently he was elected, and subsequently removed, as President of Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA). Lalit Modi and others to be slapped penalty notices for 16 cases by ED
However, since then much has happened in the life of Srinivasan. He was given the impossible choice of picking between power (as BCCI boss) and wealth (as owner of India Cements aka Chennai Super Kings). He did his best to keep both, and ended up almost having neither. As things stand at the moment, Srinivasan is the President of Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) for what by this point feels like the 50th year in a row (he has been TNCA president since dethroning his erstwhile mentor AC Muthiah in 2002-03). N Srinivasan re-elected as TNCA President
He was forced out of the top brass of BCCI a while ago, with Jagmohan Dalmiya and Anurag Thakur taking over. He remains the ICC Chairman, but his consolidation is slipping with every passing day.
In this scenario, a coup from Modi is on the cards. He will need to bring that businessman acumen to the fore, probably manipulate the odds to stack up in his favour. If ever Modi can swing things in his favour, it is now with Srinivasan in a position of weakness. Someone can make a TV show (let’s call it House of Thrones) on the whole issue! N Srinivasan can learn from Sepp Blatter’s resignation as FIFA President
(David Sidrat is the pen name of a would-be comedian who tries his best to be taken seriously and inadvertently fails in the process. He doesn’t quite see the irony of his life yet. He can’t figure out Twitter, and does not know what a Face Book is. He can therefore be found on neither platform)
