Srinivasan, Pawar meet in Nagpur as BCCI presidential race hots up

Nagpur, September 24 - International Cricket Council (ICC) chairman N. Srinivasan and Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) president Sharad Pawar met in Nagpur and it has been learnt that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) presidency was the primary topic of discussion between the duo.

Former ICC and BCCI chief Pawar is currently on a tour of drought-hit Maharashtra and Srinivasan flew to Nagpur on a special flight to meet Pawar on Wednesday night.

The duo had a two-hour discussion, but what exactly was discussed in the meeting is not known. However, it can be assumed that post the death of BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya on Sunday, the talks were around the filling up of the vacant post.

Srinivasan is also likely to meet his group in Bangalore later on Thursday. 

A day after Dalmiya's death, Pawar attended his funeral, and then rushed to Mumbai to hold parleys with his loyalists to gauge the emerging situation.

Though he was now touring rural Maharashtra, it could well be that the shrewd former BCCI and ICC chief was playing a wait and watch game before taking the plunge.

However, Pawar could face difficulties in getting a proposer from East Zone, with Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) and National Cricket Club (NCC) strongly opposed to him.

The Odisha Cricket Association (OCA) is controlled by loyalists of former BCCI boss N. Srinivasan, who had to quit following a Supreme Court directive to facilitate investigation into the 2013 Indian Premier League (IPL) betting and spot fixing scam.

Though Srinivasan is not in a position to throw his hat into the ring due to the apex court ruling, he could try to control the proceedings from behind the scene by fielding his confidant and Jharkhand State Cricket Association (JSCA) chief Amitabh Choudhary. 

Being an east Zone affiliate, JSCA can propose BCCI joint secretary Choudhary's candidature for the president's post

(IANS)