The emergence of Anurag Thakur as the newly-elected secretary of the Indian cricket board during the elections held at the AGM on Monday and the elevation of Jagmohan Dalmiya as the BCCI president, the former a Sharad Pawar-backed candidate and the latter an unanimous choice, is bound to reduce the influence N Srinivasan has in Indian cricket.

Without Sanjay Patel at the secretary’s post, Srinivasan or his loyalists won’t have the same kind of say they did previously in the day-to-day affairs of the Indian cricket board. Moreover, Dalmiya, said to be an unanimous choice by both the factions — Pawar’s and Srinivasan’s — is likely to be his own man. However, it waits to be seen how Dalmiya and Thakur are able to run a house and work with members who are known to be close to Srinivasan.

At the BCCI’s AGM, Thakur, a member of parliament of the BJP, was the only candidate from the Pawar group to emerge victorious.

Members of the Srinivasan panel won the rest of the posts, including that of treasurer and the five vice-presidents. However, the secretary and the president have a final say in appointment of members to the various BCCI sub-committees, including the finance and marketing.

The battle for the secretary’s post was a close affair with Thakur defeating Patel by just one vote.

In all 29 associations voted along with chairman of the meeting, Shivlal Yadav, who happens to be Srinivasan’s man. Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association (UPCA) secretary Rajeev Shukla lost to Haryana Cricket Association chief Anirudh Chaudhary by three votes. There was tie for joint-secretaries post as Pawar backed Chetan Desai (Goa Cricket Association) and Srinivasan’s camp put their weight behind Amitabh Chaudhary of the Jharkhand Cricket Association. It was Yadav’s casting vote, which ensured that Chaudhary sailed through after a tie.

Srinivasan group had the upper hand when it came to the posts of the vice-presidents. TC Mathew defeated Ravi Savant while Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia lost to CK Khanna of Delhi District Cricket Association by one vote. Srinivasan panel-backed G Gangaraju (South), KL Nehru (North) and Gautam Roy (East) where elected unopposed as vice-presidents as the Pawar faction had not fielded any candidates against them.

Though Srinivasan might not hold any position in Indian cricket, he will be the Indian board’s representative at the ICC (International Cricket Council), where he is chairman.

“Srinivasan will be representing India in the ICC. The next AGM will be held six months from now. The current national selection committee will continue till September,” informed BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur.

“The key will be to try and restore the faith of the people in the game. I have worked with Dalmiyaji for past 17 years, we all know that Dalmiyaji brings so much experience to the table. We are here to deliver, we all know what the board has gone through recently,” Thakur added.

MCA to move court

The Mumbai Cricket Association will move the Bombay High Court after the Baroda Cricket Association president Samarjith Gaikwad was allowed to attend the AGM despite its managing committee passing a resolution to send Rakesh Parikh, the secretary. Members of the Pawar camp said that Gaikwad was a Srinivasan loyalist while Parikh would have cast votes in their favour. Shivlal Yadav, who chaired the AGM, allowed Gaikwad to vote while Parikh was not.