Battle with court not personal, says ousted BCCI chief Anurag Thakur

After being removed from the post of President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) by the Supreme Court on Monday, Anurag Thakur said it was not his personal battle with the court and that he will remain committed for the development of cricket and the autonomy of the sports body.

The apex court had earlier in the day removed both Thakur and Secretary Ajay Shirke for their failure to implement the Justice RM Lodha committee recommendations on bringing about structural changes in the running of the board.

Reacting to the Supreme Court verdict, Thakur said “Over the years Indian cricket saw its very best in terms of administration and development of the game. BCCI is the best managed sports organisation in the country with defined procedures.

“India has the best cricket infrastructure built and maintained by the state associations with the help of BCCI…For me it wasn’t a personal battle, but a battle for autonomy of the sports body. I respect the Supreme Court as any citizen should. If Supreme Court judges feel that BCCI could do better under retired judges I wish them all the best. I am sure Indian cricket will do well under their guidance.”

‘Logical consequence’

Meanwhile, Justice Lodha told reporters that the verdict was a logical consequence and for the benefit of the game. Other observers believe the decision is expected to make the cricket board more accountable. Shailendra Singh, Joint Managing Director, Percept Ltd, said, “Over the past five years I have been consistently saying that the constitution of BCCI was compromised and its administrators were taking undue liberties. The cricket board was not being run in a transparent manner. The Supreme Court verdict will help clean the cricket board and make it more accountable to the nation.” Cricket commentator and journalist Harsha Bhogle tweeted, “This is a revolution the kind of which I haven't seen in all the years I have followed Indian cricket. Await the calm beyond the storm.”

IPL faces uncertainty

However, analysts say the move could mean more uncertainty for the upcoming IPL season and its broadcast and digital rights bidding process in the future. Apart from leading broadcasters. major global players such as Amazon, Twitter and Facebook had evinced interest in digital rights.

Indranil Das Blah, Founding Partner and COO, Kwan Entertainment & Marketing Solutions, said this may be a dampener and create uncertainty for the upcoming season of IPL.