Ajay Shirke, president of Maharashtra Cricket Association does not believe that he is in ‘standing in a queue’ to get a post in BCCI. His name may be doing the rounds for one of the top two posts in he world’s richest cricket board.
“Let me clarify to you at the beginning that I have never put myself in contention for any top job within the BCCI nor do I have any goals of getting any posts. My name may be doing the rounds as you say, and it might look to many that I am myself pushing my name in the media, which I have never done,” Shirke told.
Ajay Shirke, who has also been a former treasurer of the board, said that he is still not aware of the date of the Special General Meeting scheduled to be held in Mumbai on May 22. “Since I am in London, I am not aware of the SGM date. If the notice has come from BCCI, it will be at the MCA office only,” said Shirke.
However, he said that it would not be proper to predict what’s going to happen at this point of time in the BCCI, especially since the Supreme Court is yet to pronounce its verdict. “How can I predict something sitting 7000 km away? Also the fact that till the Supreme Court verdict is pronounced, it will be difficult to understand the implications that the order will have on the functioning of the board. If all the recommendations are made final and binding, one cannot predict what exactly will be the formation of the board post-SC order,” Shirke said.
Like BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur, the former treasurer and IPL governing council member also expressed his concerns over the huge revenue losses that the board will incur if the Lodha Committee recommendation on curtailing of advertisements is implemented. “Since I was treasurer, I have a fair idea about the board’s financial position. I can tell that two years from now, the BCCI will run into losses if the revenue stream is curtailed as envisaged,” a worried Shirke said.
Asked about Shashank Manohar’s decision of suddenly quitting the BCCI for ICC’s independent chairmanship, Shirke gave his perspective on the issue. “Well, he has left at an important time when the Supreme Court order is going to come out. I can’t comment about how others have felt but I have my own opinion on it.