N Srinivasan back in BCCI reckoning; slams ICC boss Shashank Manohar for taking advantage of Indian board

New Delhi: Tamil Nadu strongman Narayanaswami Srinivasan has never been away from cricket. In fact, he can never be. Such is his grip in Indian cricket, that despite being a sidelined administrator, the current bosses at the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) find his wisdom too precious to ignore.

And according to a report in The Times of India, the current BCCI bosses have met the former president and Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) to seek advice and strategize on the future course of action even as Indian cricket continues to exist in the reform blob.

"It is true that the president Anurag Thakur and secretary Ajay Shirke met me on separate occasions when they were in Chennai and we had discussions on various issues pertaining to cricket," he told TOI in an interview, published on Wednesday.

"During the discussions I have said that as far as TNCA is concerned, the association will support BCCI in every way. It is the history in BCCI that there can be elections and contests, but when the dust settles down, members close ranks. In that tradition, TNCA will also function as a supporting pillar," he added.

The Indian cricket administration is going through a difficult phase with the BCCI finding it tough to implement the recommendations made by the Supreme Court appointed Justice Lodha Committee.

Only today, the committee filed a review in the apex court asking for "immediate" supercession of current BCCI office-bearers for violation of the July 18 judgment which directed them to implement the recommendations for transparency in cricket administration.

It's pertinent to mention that the Supreme Court told Srinivasan to step down as BCCI president in 2014 so that a fair investigation may be conducted on the infamous Indian Premier League 2013 booking scandal, in which his son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan was convicted for betting, and trading inside information to bookies.

Even during his exile, Srinivasan managed to lead the state association to a successful Tamil Nadu Premier League, modelled along the lines of IPL.

Talking about BCCI's current predicament, Srinivasan said that the president (Thakur) and the secretary (Shirke) "are experienced people" and "they should have their space. It is important that former presidents of BCCI should not lean over their successors' shoulders".

He also added, that the International Cricket Council (ICC) chairman Shashank Manohar "took advantage of the BCCI."

became ICC boss after resigning from his post as the BCCI President, even though he was chosen for the Indian cricket's top job following the stepping down of Srinivasan and the demise of Jagmohan Dalmiya.