At 57, Nandlal Shivlal Yadav has every reason to smile at his critics! For, he is now, literally, the ‘in-charge president’ (in his capacity as the senior-most vice-president from South Zone) of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) taking care of day-to-day affairs while batting great Sunil Gavaskar as the BCCI interim president will look after the IPL-7 subjects after the Supreme Court orders on Friday. “It is a huge responsibility and I will try my best to live up to the expectations,” says Shivlal.
The previous highest post held by a Hyderabadi was by late Ghulam Ahmed as secretary of BCCI and Dr. M.V. Sridhar, GM (operations) BCCI. For this genteel Hyderabadi, there are quite a few firsts to be proud of. He happens to be the first player-president of the all-powerful BCCI, the first Hyderabadi to hold that prestigious post. Interestingly, the HCA here has an in-charge secretary in S. Venkateswaran even as his ‘mentor’ Shivlal is all set to hold the reins of BCCI till September this year.
Former India left-arm spinner and now Hyderabad coach Sunil B. Joshi puts it aptly: “When a cricketer becomes the president of BCCI, it always gives the cricketing fraternity a special feeling. I am sure Shiv bhai will do a great job given his experience and expertise.” A protégé of former HCA secretary and president M. Ranga Reddy, it was during Shivlal’s secretaryship the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium has come up. And with it, no doubt, large-scale allegations of misappropriation of funds too. In fact, an ACB enquiry is on and taking a final shape too. For the record, this very knowledgeable Hyderabadi was the EC member of the HCA between 1990-92, joint secretary from 1992-2000 and then secretary from 2000-08 and since then till now he continues to be the Vice-president.
But, the plain fact that Shivlal continues to be the ‘king maker’ in HCA to any group vying to grab power is a tribute to his efficacy in holding his flock together “He has the uncanny knack to be a decisive factor in any election,” feels former secretary D. S. Chalapathi. Interestingly, Shivlal made his Test debut under Sunil Gavaskar’s captaincy.
