BCCI secretary v Srinivasan gets heated

The internal tussle for control of the BCCI was played out in public via a letter from the newly-elected BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur to the ICC chairman N Srinivasan on Monday. In the letter, Thakur accused Srinivasan of not being 'reconciled' with his election to the post of BCCI secretary and therefore launching a 'counter offensive.' This counter offensive, Thakur wrote, was the leak of an internal ICC document regarding his association with a 'suspected bookie.'

Thakur, however, has denied having knowledge or clue of the activities of one Karan Gilhotra "as a suspected bookie."

Srinivasan responded to Thakur's letter by saying he was not in the habit of leaking information. "If I have to talk to Anurag, I will write a letter to him in private or have a word with him," he told Times of India. "I don't need to go to the media with allegations against BCCI officials."

The letter from the ICC was dated April 22 with a copy marked to the ICC chairman Srinivasan. ICC chief executive David Richardson had written to BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya over an allegation that Thakur was spotted with Gilhotra, who "appears on the ICC ACSU database… following rumours … about his involvement in betting on cricket."

Richardson said, "during the 2014 edition of the IPL, unverified information was received by the ICC ACSU that Mr Gilhotra was seen trying to befriend players and support staff during the tournament and that there were rumours (again unverified) about his involvement in betting on cricket."

The letter was sent to Dalmiya as it fell, "outside the jurisdiction of the ICC's anti corruption code" so he could "handle as appropriate." The original email sent by a journalist carried photographs of Gilhotra and Thakur together.

Thakur, in his letter on Monday, said that the BCCI had "received information from the ICC ostensibly under your [Srinivasan's] direction that I should keep away from one Mr Karan Gilhotra who is a 'suspected bookie… I only wish that you had shared the list of 'unverified suspected bookies' with me and other colleagues, so we could identify such persons and keep away from them."

Thakur added he had, known Gilhotra "who has been active in the political and cricket in activities in Punjab and adjacent states. I had no knowledge about his activities as a bookie."

The ICC letter states that on the basis of the information, Ravi Sawani, the director of the BCCI's anti corruption unit, "wrote to all the IPL franchise managers in 2014 advising them that they should take steps to ensure Mr Gilhotra was not entertained by any of their squad members." The letter then ended with the following: "we believe however as the allegation involves Mr Thakur for his own benefit, it would be advisable for its contents to be drawn to Mr Thakur's immediate attention."

Thakur said the ICC advisory was made public at Srinivasan's "behest" around the working committee meeting in Kolkata on Sunday. He also asked Srinivasan to, share this information (regarding the list of suspected bookies) "with your family members, whose involvement in betting has been proved." A reference to the 2013 IPL corruption case when Srinivasan's son in law and Chennai Super Kings official Gurunath Meiyappan was charged with betting by the Supreme Court.

Thakur's letter ended with a statement that, "since the ICC advisory had been made in public, I would be making this letter to you public" circulating its contents and details on social media and on the BCCI's official mailing list to media outlets.