New Delhi, Jun 1: Two top BCCI officials, secretary Sanjay Jagdale and treasurer Ajay Shirke, on Friday quit from their respective posts in a bid to put pressure on beleaguered cricket board president N Srinivasan in the wake of the IPL spot-fixing and betting scandal.
Jagdale said he resigned from his post as he was deeply hurt by the current crisis that has hit Indian cricket. " Yes, that's true, I have resigned from the post of honorary secretary of BCCI," Jagdale said. "I don't want to comment further but I am deeply hurt by the recent developments in Indian cricket. I thought it's better to get out so that some new faces come in and deal with it in a better way," he added.
He, however, refused to divulge the details of the resignation letter sent to Srinivasan. "I can't comment about the resignation letter I have written to the president. It's proper to inform the president and I have done that. Jagdale said he would no longer be part of the three-man inquiry commission set up by the BCCI to go into allegations against Srinivasan's son-in-low and CSK Team principal Gurunath Meiyappan, who was arrested on charges of betting in IPL, and Rajasthan Royals franchise.
"I have already expressed my inability to be part of the commission," Jagdale said. "I can't comment on whether other BCCI members would follow suit and resign." He declined to comment on whether Srinivasan should also tender his resignation. Shirke also confirmed his resignation. "I have spelt out my reasons (for resignation). I don't want to comment any further.
I have already spoken to the media at length," Shirke said. Shirke said he was not cajoled by Srinivasan not to quit. Buckling under relentless pressure on him to quit, Srinivasan on Friday convened an emergency meeting of the Board's all-powerful working committee on June 8 to discuss the current crisis arising out of betting and spot-fixing in IPL.
The beleaguered president's decision came after three important members called him up to convene such a meeting and asked him to announce it by the evening in what is seen as the first step towards possibly ousting him.
There was intense speculation that joint secretary Anurag Thakur and five vice-presidents will also put in their papers by on Saturday.
The five vice-presidents are Arun Jaitley (North), Niranjan Shah (West), Sudhir Dabir (Central), Chitrak Mitra (East) and Shivlal Yadav (South).
However, Chitrak Mitra denied that he was planning to quit. "I have no plans to quit nor am I under any pressure to do so," he said.
There were reports that the vice-presidents are set to resign in a bid to put further pressure on Srinivasan so that he quits on his own.
Jagdale later said that he had already declined yesterday to be part of the three-man commission appointed to probe Meiyappan.
"Yesterday, I declined to be part of the Commission and today I resigned," he said.
He said Indian cricket will bounce back from the current crisis.
"In every organisation and walk of life, there are always bad people but good people always outnumber them. Maybe 1 to 2 per cent people are bad. BCCI has been running well over the years and the system has been good.
"Some bad people has brought disrepute to the game but I believe Indian cricket will bounce back stronger from this crisis," he added.
Ankeet Chavan out of Tihar
Suspended cricketer Ankeet Chavan, who was arrested on allegations of spot-fixing, was on Friday released from Tihar Jail, a day after a court granted him bail to solemnise his marriage.
"Chavan was released from Jail Number 1 at 8:05 PM," Tihar Law officer Sunil Gupta said.
Chavan had sought bail on the ground that his marriage is fixed for June 2 and if the wedding does not take place it will harm his reputation and that of his fiancee.
He was granted bail till June 6.
Chavan had to deposit two sureties of Rs 1 lakh each and a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh with the court before he was granted bail.
The cricketer was directed to surrender his passport and not to make any direct of indirect inducement to any person related to the case. He was arrested on May 16.
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