Shashank Manohar: A controversial reign ends

In times of crises, the Board of Control for Cricket in India turned to a credible face to regain the trust that had been hit for a six following the 2013 IPL spot-fixing scandal and subsequent court battles.

After Jagmohan Dalmiya’s untimely demise in 2015, the BCCI sought out a former president who had gone into hibernation to fill the breach. Ironically, it was betrayed by the same man whose personal ambitions and misplaced priorities overshadowed the BCCI’s interests. Meet wily lawyer Shashank Manohar who, on Wednesday, stepped down as the first independent chairman of the International Cricket Council after serving two two-year terms.

India’s not-so-inconsiderable standing in the ICC took a massive beating and left them isolated on several key issues as Manohar became a rallying point for forces nursing a grudge against the BCCI. That a majority of Manohar’s reign in ICC coincided with uncertainty in his home board helped him enjoy a free run. His successor as BCCI president, Anurag Thakur, spent most of his brief tenure fire-fighting, both at the Supreme Court and against the ICC. And after the removal of the elected regime by a court order, the SC-appointed Committee of Administrators, tasked with overseeing the functioning of the BCCI, didn’t stand up to Manohar, further compromising Indian interests.

If many in the Indian board today think of Manohar as someone who used the BCCI merely as a stepping stone, you can understand where they are coming from. After returning as the BCCI president in 2015, Manohar ensured N Srinivasan ceased to be India’s representative at the ICC. This meant the Tamil Nadu strongman had to vacate the ICC president’s post seven months prior to end of his term. Manohar duly took charge of the world governing body. Once at the ICC, he stunned BCCI with a series of steps that reduced its clout and ate into its revenue generation.

Even as the BCCI president, he had positioned himself against the “Big Three” power structure, and went about achieving his other objectives in a meticulous manner. And barely seven months after his resurrection, he quit as BCCI president.

He, meanwhile, had floated the idea of an independent chairman for the ICC, who didn’t have to be the official representative of his parent board. Once that came to fruition, he “cut off” all his links with the BCCI.

The BCCI was navigating choppy waters at the time after being directed to comply with the Supreme Court-appointed Justice Lodha panel’s reform recommendations. The BCCI expected Manohar to lead the clean-up job but his decision to opt for the safer confines of the ICC left it rudderless.

The subsequent steps Manohar took to undermine the BCCI’s standing understandably endeared him to most of the cricketing world. Be it power-restructuring at ICC, changing the revenue model or issues related to tax concession, he was seen to be deliberately targeting the BCCI. Even his delayed exit as ICC chairman -- his second term ended two months ago but he stayed back following the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak -- appears to be aimed at making the BCCI’s life difficult. The BCCI is keen on hosting the Indian Premier League if the T20 World Cup is postponed.

With hosts Australia all but expressing their inability to host the 16-team tournament in October-November, it should have been logical for the ICC to put the event off to a later date and free up the international calendar, thereby also giving the BCCI enough time to put plans in place for IPL 2020. For reasons best known only to the ICC, the world body is still “exploring” options to conduct the global event.

Within cricketing circles, whispers abound over why Manohar opted against a third term which he is entitled to constitutionally. Did he suspect that the BCCI, now run by a powerful elected body, would be more assertive and hence difficult to combat? Maybe, maybe not. But what is certain is that the Nagpur advocate can count few friends in the Indian Board.