16 March,2017 12:42 PM IST | | Shalabh Manocha
Shashank Manohar may have mentioned that he was leaving the job for personal reasons, but those who have been following recent developments in world cricket administration are of the view that there is more to it than what meets the eye
New Delhi: "If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen." This was one of America's 33rd president Harry S Truman's most favourite lines.
It has been used many times since, warning people of not taking up jobs, the pressure of which they can't handle. Whether Truman's words have any relation to Shashank Manohar quitting as the International Cricket Council's chairman will however require more time to arrive at a definite conclusion.
Manohar may have mentioned that he was leaving the job for personal reasons, but those who have been following recent developments in world cricket administration are of the view that there is more to it than what meets the eye. In fact, a lot of it has to do with the former chairman trying to give every international cricket board an equal share from the ICC's revenue, a move which has been vehemently opposed by the Indian cricket board.
For a man who was elected unopposed as the ICC's first independent chairman in May 2016, he had become the driving force behind the ICC's retreat from the governance structures created by the Big Three boards of BCCI, CA and ECB in 2014. Under him last month, the ICC had passed in principle a new constitution that undid much of the imbalance in power and finances.
Being a seasoned lawyer, Manohar could figure out that it would be very difficult for him to stop BCCI from blocking the reforms probably forced him to end his stint and hence one could read between these lines of his "I have tried to do my best and have tried to be fair and impartial in deciding matters in the functioning of the Board."
Though BCCI expressed surprise at Manohar's "sudden decision" it looked more like a tongue-in-cheek comment.
With regards to Manohar's role as an administrator, many have been vocal about his good intentions while his biggest criticism has been that he quits when the going gets tough. This was the impression he left last year when he resigned as BCCI president with the board under pressure to implement the reforms recommended by the Justice Lodha committee.
With new developments likely to happen in the days ahead with regards to how cricket will be administered around the world, Manohar being a veteran would know that to score you need to stay at the wicket provided you are willing to do that.
