Chennai: Interim BCCI president Shivlal Yadav is looking forward to hand the reins back to N. Srinivasan, who has been sidelined following a Supreme Court order. “I wish the bad period, that I only read about in the media, would be over soon and as interim president, I hope he will take over soon from me,” said Shivlal while speaking at a function organised by the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association to felicitate Srinivasan for becoming the first ICC chairman.
Shivlal said none of his predecessors had provided monetary support to cricketers like the Tamil Nadu strongman did. “I am honoured to see Srinivasan getting to this glory with his administrative skills. In 2004, Hyderabad Cricket Association made him its vice-president and during his four-year tenure we saw his extraordinary skills and capability. We knew he will one day achieve the pinnacle in administration that he has reached today,” said Shivlal.
Shivlal said the restructuring of the International Cricket Council with India as crucial player happened only because of Srinivasan’s vision. “It was his forethought that maximum money should come to BCCI because of our significant contribution to world cricket. No other past president had this vision. I wish he continues to grow from strength to strength,” he added.
Srinivasan said his journey to the top had been punctuated with potholes. “But it’s my passion for cricket that kept me going. By the time I entered BCCI for the first time, I had unified support from my home association TNCA. The wholehearted support is what propelled me into the board because I know there is an army behind me. I am also overwhelmed with the rock-solid support from BCCI members when all kinds of missiles were targetted at me. Contrary to what people think, there is no ego between board members. Today Shivlal and I are sitting next to each other and talking cricket though he has come in as my replacement,” said Srinivasan.
He also said the state associations would get more funds as the benefit starts to flow through the ICC. “If associations have been getting 25-30 crore per year, it will go up to 50 crores in the future. State associations will use it for the improvement of the game,” he said.
