'Manohar reduced India's importance'

Shashank Manohar's exit from International Cricket Council (ICC) ' Good Riddance' is what the former chief of Board for Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) N Srinivasan, summed up his (Manohar's) tenure as the chief at the helm of the ICC, said that that will do a lot of good for the Indian cricket after his departure.

It was on Wednesday,

Manohar walked away, after his twoyear tenure leaving Imran Khwaja, the deputy chairman, to take responsibilities of the chairperson until a successor is elected.

Stressing that Manohar caused a lot of damage to Indian cricket by hiring the country's finances at the ICC, Srinivasan said Indian cricketer fraternity will be happy that Manohar resigned from the role of ICC chairman.

Srinivasan hit out at the Nagpur-based lawyer, saying he had run away from the BCCI president post during a crisis situation in 2015 and that he is leaving the ICC top job in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic.

"My personal view is he has done so much damage to Indian cricket that every person involved in Indian cricket will be happy (with his exit)," Sriniavasan told a section of the press.

"He has hurt India's finances in the game, has hurt India's chances at the ICC, he has been anti-Indian and has reduced India's importance in world cricket.

"He is running away now because he knows he will not get any bow from the Indian leadership."

In 2019, BCCI had reportedly decided to oppose Manohar's potential re-appointment as ICC chairman. Notably, Manohar could have served another term of 2 years but he had decided against it.

Srinivasan said Manohar knew that he would not be able to represent India after newly-appointed office-bearers took charge of the BCCI last year.