A day after taking over as the Board of Control for Cricket in India secretary, Ajay Shirke spelt out his immediate priorities in a chat with The Hindu .
Excerpts
When you resigned as BCCI treasurer in 2013, you had said that by not acting properly during the IPL corruption scandal, the BCCI was doing too much damage to itself. Has the damage gone beyond repair now?
Not at all! The damage is not beyond repair. While legal proceedings have been going on on one hand, one cannot forget that nothing else has suffered. Cricket and cricketing activities have been improving, the teams are faring well. The Board’s other administrative activities have not been affected; meetings have been held regularly, accounts have been passed, reports made, compliances made. This clearly cannot happen in a useless organisation as it is made out to be.
Shifting of IPL matches at short notice is an example of the Board’s fine functioning. Not a single person complained that he had not got refund of tickets. Imagine the logistics in this. What has happened is unfortunate but nothing is beyond redemption.
What are your immediate priorities?
Immediate priority is implementation of the recent reforms introduced by the BCCI. Any reform is only as good as its implementation. Many steps are being taken, so continued and sustained implementation is the main issue. Another issue is sorting out the responsibilities of the new professionals the BCCI has roped in.
How do you plan to handle internal restructuring, with the addition of the chief executive officer (Rahul Johri) and the chief financial officer (Santosh Rangnekar)?
We just have to streamline the process at the BCCI headquarters so that there’s no parallel working. We have to ensure the new people settle in without ruffling the old hands. We are working on that. I have a draft organisation structure which is under discussion. Once it is ready, we will present it to the president for his comment and approval.
Since the BCCI’s rulebook states secretary is the chief executive, will you change Rahul Johri’s designation?
That’s a minor issue. The appointed CEO and elected chief executive are two distinct positions. The designation does not mean Mr. Johri will replace the BCCI secretary. He is the employed CEO and will remain with the Board irrespective of who the secretary is. He is the executive arm of the secretary’s office. And if anybody wants to get hypertechnical, we can always amend the wording of that rulebook.
