IPL spot fixing: Nobody dared to ask Srinivasan to quit, says Anurag Thakur

CHANDIGARH: BCCI joint secretary AnuragThakur, who had pulled out all stops to seek an emergency board meeting to discuss the spot fixing row, on Sunday revealed that no working committee member dared to ask BCCI chief N Srinivasan to step down as the beleaguered president "convinced them that there were no charges against him".

"No one asked him to step down for the first 40 minutes as he (Srinivasan) began addressing the conference at Chennai. Immediately, he told us that he had come mentally prepared to step aside," Thakur, who talked to TOI aboard New Delhi-Kalka Shatabdi Express, said.

"In the last two days, we had repeatedly told him that we needed his replacement. On Sunday, he convinced us that there were no direct charges against him. He said if perception of the board and cricket needs to be changed, he will step aside only temporarily. And then he readily agreed to allow Dalmiya head the interim "four-member panel arrangement". So we couldn't ask him to resign," he said.

Thakur debunked the theory of four conditions that Srinivasan had allegedly put before the board for his resignation.

"No conditions were ever set by him. Srinivasan was not keen on accepting resignations by both Sanjay Jagdale and Ajay Shirke. At the end of the meeting, the board asked the two members to come back and join us but they refused," Thakur said.

Thakur hinted that the resignation by Jagdale and Shirke could be on the insistence of former BCCI chief Sharad Pawar. Thakur also revealed that Srinivasan faced a stiff opposition from former India Test captain Anil Kumble and Punjab Cricket Association president I S Bindra.

"Kumble said the time was right to clean up the cricket. The other board member who then joined the demand was IS Bindra," he said.

When asked if the charges of conflict of interest against Srinivasan for running an IPL team concurrently with his designation as the BCCI chief were serious enough, Thakur said Pawar had allowed the arrangement in 2009.

"These questions should be directed to Sharad Pawar," he said.