Rajiv Shukla returns as IPL chairman

Rajiv Shukla has returned as the chairman of the IPL governing council after nearly two years, the former BCCI vice-president emerging as a compromise candidate for both the factions in the BCCI. Former India captain Sourav Ganguly replaced GR Viswanath as one of the two cricketers on the governing council.

The BCCI made public the list of all its sub-committees, along with IPL operational committees, on Monday evening. The lists were finalised more than a month after the AGM. With the BCCI elections resulting into a split house, the AGM had authorised president Jagmohan Dalmiya and secretary Anurag Thakur to appoint various committees. With time running out, the committees were announced two days ahead of the start of the IPL's eighth edition.

It is understood that Shukla emerged as a dark horse since neither the N Srinivasan faction nor the Sharad Pawar group was willing to arrive at a consensus. The Srinivasan group had demanded that Ranjib Biswal, who had taken over after Shukla resigned as IPL chairman in the aftermath of the IPL corruption scandal in 2013, be continued to head IPL.

On the other hand, Thakur, the Pawar group's sole representative in the officials' panel, pushed for Ajay Shirke to head the IPL. Shirke, the Maharashtra Cricket Association chief, had resigned as the BCCI treasurer days after player arrests during IPL 2013, blaming Srinivasan for mishandling the alleged spot-fixing scandal. Shirke was interestingly included as a member of the governing council.

Since Dalmiya does not enjoy a cordial relationship with Biswal, he then suggested the name of Shukla, a seasoned politician. Shukla was a vice-president during Srinivasan's three-year term as president. However, he switched allegiance and contested on behalf of the Pawar faction for the post of treasurer. Though he lost the election, Shukla had been keen on holding a major post.

Shukla enjoys a healthy relationship with Arun Jaitley, the union finance minister who is Thakur's political guru and Srinivasan's supporter. It is understood that once Jaitley, a former BCCI vice-president, proposed Shukla's name, none of the factions could oppose his candidature.

The number of members in the IPL governing council increased from 10 to 12, with eight of them belonging to east and south zones, home territory of Dalmiya and Srinivasan, respectively.

Ravi Shastri was retained as one of the two cricketers on the governing council. For the other cricketer's post, Dalmiya was insistent on Ganguly's inclusion, as reported by ESPNcricinfo. Ganguly was appointed India captain during Dalmiya's first stint at the BCCI helm and the duo share a healthy relationship.

TC Mathew, another Srinivasan loyalist, was replaced with MP Pandove as the chief of the National Cricket Academy board. Just like Shukla, who had held the post earlier in the last decade, Pandove also enjoys good rapport with both the groups. Mathew, who was elected as one of the five vice-presidents last month, will now head the umpires' committee.

Jyotiraditya Scindia, who was the first to criticise Srinivasan in public after the arrest of Gurunath Meiyappan in the IPL corruption scandal two years ago, was appointed as the chairman of the finance committee. G Ganga Raju, the previous finance committee chief, will now head the tour, programme and fixture committee.

All the sub-committees will be reconstituted during the next BCCI annual general meeting, scheduled to be held in September. The tenure of office-bearers and vice-presidents, however, will be till the 2017 AGM.