BCCI secretary, treasurer resign

New Delhi, May 31 (IANS) The Indian Premier League (IPL) spot fixing scandal took a new turn Friday evening as two top Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) officials resigned from their posts on moral grounds.

BCCI secretary Sanjay Jagdale and treasurer Ajay Shirke resigned saying that they were “hurt”, “disturbed” and “not comfortable” in continuing, piling on the pressure on board president N. Srinivasan’s ouster.

There are also reports that all five BCCI vice presidents — Niranjan Shah (west zone), Sudhir Dabir (central), Chitrak Mitra (east), Arun Jaitley (north) and N. Shivlal Yadav (south) — will also resign.

“I have resigned from the post of secretary of the BCCI. I am deeply hurt with the recent developments in Indian cricket. Let some new faces come and take the responsibility. I was not feeling comfortable. Those who are guilty should be punished,” Jagdale said to a leading TV news channel.

On being asked whether Srinivasan should also resign, Jagdale replied: “I won’t comment on others. I did what I felt was correct.”

Jagdale, belonging to the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association, added that he won’t serve on the three-man commission, which had been appointed to probe Srinivasan’s son-in-law, Gurunath Meiyappan’s role in the betting scam.

Shirke had been saying for the past few days that Srinivasan should step down on moral grounds in the wake of the spot fixing scandal in which his own son-in-law was arrested.

Shirke said: “Yes, I have resigned. I have spelt out my reason to the media several times and don’t want to comment any more. I was disturbed. I care about my reputation and also the reputation of the sport which is why I decided to resign. Nobody has influenced my decision.”

Shirke, president of the Maharashtra Cricket Association, also refused to comment on Srinivasan’s ouster.

Late Friday, Srinivasan called for a working committee meeting to discuss the corruption issues in the IPL. The day of the meeting is yet to be confirmed.