Manohar had to quit BCCI, says senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy

Mumbai: Shashank Manohar resigned as president of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Wednesday and is all set to take over the ICC. He took over the position following the death of Jagmohan Dalmiya in September 2015.

Read: Shashank Manohar quits as BCCI president, to take up ICC full-time?

Manohar also stepped down from the post of ICC chairman. In a letter addressed to secretary Anurag Thakur, the secretary of the BCCI, Manohar said, "I hereby tender my resignation with immediate effect from the post of President of Board of Control for Cricket in India. I also resign with immediate effect as the representative of BCCI on the International Cricket Council, as also the Asian Cricket Council on which I was nominated by the General Body of BCCI. I thank all my colleagues and the staff for their support and cooperation during my tenure. I wish all of you all the very best in taking the cause of cricket to greater heights."

The Nagpur lawyer’s exit means that this is the shortest-ever tenure by a BCCI president.

However senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy alleged that Manohar quit “because the SC is about to hear my SLP where I have shown his complicity with Lalit Modi.”

Media reports had it earlier that a series of e-mails that had surfaced suggested ‘bad boy’ of Indian cricket Lalit Modi continued to influence the course of events even after he fled the country in disgrace in 2010.

According to the mails, Modi was in contact through his lawyer with key men concerned with the case that ultimately led to the probe against tainted TNCA President N Srinivasan and his son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan.

Modi also started building a rapport with bosses Srinivasan, Shashank Manohar and Sharad Pawar, which led to his appointment as IPL commissioner in 2008.

Manohar leaves at a time when the board is being directed to comply with the Supreme Court-appointed Justice Lodha panel's reform recommendations.

According to reliable sources, Thakur is being tipped to take over the hot seat. IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla is also in the running along with Maharashtra CA president and business magnet Ajay Shirke.

Also Read: BCCI officials not happy with Shashank Manohar?

As per BCCI rules, a Special General Meeting (SGM) has to be convened within 15 days, apprising the members of the current situation. It is the prerogative of secretary Thakur to call such a meeting.

As per norms, Manohar has also resigned from ICC chairman's post as he was a BCCI representative at the apex body and resignation in country's board effectively means that he does not stay as ICC's chairman. His tenure was supposed to end in June, 2016, after which he was set to take over as the first independent chairman of ICC.

The 58-year-old Manohar will not be a representative of any country's cricket board as per the changes recommended by ICC board and will need two independent members of the ICC Board to recommend his name.

According to BCCI sources, Manohar was waiting for the Supreme Court's final verdict but since it will only come out after the apex court opens post summer vacation, the Vidarbha lawyer possibly did not want to wait.

A top BCCI administrator said: "We all had an idea that Shashank will be quitting BCCI post. But let's not get into a debate as to whether he has dumped a sinking ship or not. Whether it has been prudent on his part to quit when BCCI is going through tough times is a matter of conjecture."

Many BCCI members are of the opinion that they expected Manohar to anchor the clean-up process till his tenure ends in 2017 September, but his sudden change of heart to go for safer confines of ICC in Dubai has left everyone in the lurch.