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Manhas (45) featured in 157 first-class matches in a domestic career of 18 years, spanning from 1998 to 2016 © BCCI
Amid swirling speculation over the next president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), former Delhi cricketer Mithun Manhas has emerged as the front runner for the position. However, the final outcome continues to remain shrouded in secrecy.
Cricbuzz understands that Raghuram Bhatt, a former India Test cricketer, who was also a contender for the position, will also be in Mumbai on Sunday to file nomination for the BCCI election. What position Bhat (67), who played two Tests for the country, will get is still not known. He was in Delhi on Sunday.
It is learnt that the final decision will be made known to the candidates only on Sunday morning, hours before the deadline to file nominations expires. “All of them have been asked to proceed to Mumbai,” a source informed this website.
Manhas (45), who featured in 157 first-class matches in a domestic career of 18 years, spanning from 1998 to 2016, has emerged as a surprise choice given the high profiles of other contenders and aspirants. Sourav Ganguly’s name remained in the fray until the last minute, as did Harbhajan Singh’s, but Manhas appeared to be gaining favour. He has been nominated by the Jammu & Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA) for the September 28 election and Annual General Meeting (AGM).
It is not clear how Manhas’s name was zeroed in on and a highly-placed source, who attended the meeting in Delhi on Saturday night, about which Cricbuzz first reported on September 18, said it is 90 per cent likely that Manhas will be the choice for president.
It was a high-powered meeting at a Union Minister’s residence on Saturday night, with many aspirants asked to come to Delhi and wait for the call. Present at the meeting were all BCCI office-bearers – secretary Devajit Saikia, joint secretary Rohan Dessai, treasurer Prabhtej Singh Bhatia, vice-president Rajeev Shukla, and IPL commissioner Arun Singh Dhumal.
Also in attendance were ‘seniors’ such as Niranjan Shah, the former BCCI secretary from Saurashtra, and Kasi Viswanathan from Tamil Nadu, who represented former president N Srinivasan. Brijesh Patel, a former chairman of the IPL Governing Council and a strongman from Karnataka, was summoned to the meeting too. Interestingly, Ganguly was also in Delhi on Saturday, but there was no information that he attended the meeting.
As is being reported, Shukla, Saikia, Bhatia and Dessai are expected to retain their position. Dhumal’s situation is not clear. There is some confusion whether he can continue as the IPL chairman or whether he comes under the cooling off ambit. He will be in Mumbai too, on Sunday.
© Cricbuzz