Pawar asked Vengsarkar to leave the AGM
Monday, September 29th, 2008 at 10:11 am
MUMBAI: It was a forgettable weekend for Dilip Vengsarkar. First the new management of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) did not consider him for the chairmanship of the senior selection committee. And as if that was not enough, the outgoing chief selector was then subjected to an avoidable embarrassment at the just-concluded Annual General Meeting (AGM).
DNA has learnt that Vengsarkar was asked to leave the AGM on Saturday morning. Minutes after he entered the meeting hall on the first floor of the Cricket Centre here, the former India captain was told he cannot be present there.
According to some members present at the meeting, Vengsarkar entered the hall when the AGM was about to begin. His entry instantly raised a few eyebrows and a few senior members brought it to the notice of president Sharad Pawar. The Board president, who was presiding over the AGM, then called Vengsarkar and asked him to leave. “The whole incident lasted just about a couple of minutes,” said an insider.
When contacted, Vengsarkar said there was a miscommunication. “I was told by Dr PV Shetty, the joint secretary of the Mumbai Cricket Association, that Pawar had told him that I can attend the meeting as MCA representative on September 27. And on the evening before the AGM I inquired with BCCI CAO Prof Ratnakar Shetty whether I can attend as my name was not there on the notice Board. I was told that I can attend. There was complete miscommunication,” the former captain told DNA.
As is the general practice, the Board allows only one representative from each association at the AGM and it put out a notice mentioning the names of each state representative a day before the AGM. Pawar’s name was mentioned as the MCA representative on the notice board outside the conference hall.
When approached for his reaction, MCA joint secretary said he had stated that in the absence of Pawar, Vengsarkar will represent the association. “I had clearly stated that the managing committee’s decision was that Vengsarkar will represent MCA in the absence of Pawar,” PV Shetty said. When asked about the possibility of miscommunication, he refused to comment.
Pawar, however, set things straight. He admitted that he could not allow Vengsarkar to stay on because of voting in the AGM. “In any other Board meeting, we could perhaps have allowed two members from an association but in the AGM there is no such provision as there is voting. Vengsarkar’s presence was brought to my notice and I then communicated to him. But even before I told anything to him, Vengsarkar also seemed to have realised that he should not be there.”
Incidentally, it was at this very meeting that Vengsarkar was replaced by one-time teammate Krishnamachari Srikkanth, a decision which left many surprised as the outgoing chief selector had earned praise from none other than Pawar himself for his performance. Constitutionally, Vengsarkar could have continued for two more years.
DNA has learnt that Vengsarkar was asked to leave the AGM on Saturday morning. Minutes after he entered the meeting hall on the first floor of the Cricket Centre here, the former India captain was told he cannot be present there.
According to some members present at the meeting, Vengsarkar entered the hall when the AGM was about to begin. His entry instantly raised a few eyebrows and a few senior members brought it to the notice of president Sharad Pawar. The Board president, who was presiding over the AGM, then called Vengsarkar and asked him to leave. “The whole incident lasted just about a couple of minutes,” said an insider.
When contacted, Vengsarkar said there was a miscommunication. “I was told by Dr PV Shetty, the joint secretary of the Mumbai Cricket Association, that Pawar had told him that I can attend the meeting as MCA representative on September 27. And on the evening before the AGM I inquired with BCCI CAO Prof Ratnakar Shetty whether I can attend as my name was not there on the notice Board. I was told that I can attend. There was complete miscommunication,” the former captain told DNA.
As is the general practice, the Board allows only one representative from each association at the AGM and it put out a notice mentioning the names of each state representative a day before the AGM. Pawar’s name was mentioned as the MCA representative on the notice board outside the conference hall.
When approached for his reaction, MCA joint secretary said he had stated that in the absence of Pawar, Vengsarkar will represent the association. “I had clearly stated that the managing committee’s decision was that Vengsarkar will represent MCA in the absence of Pawar,” PV Shetty said. When asked about the possibility of miscommunication, he refused to comment.
Pawar, however, set things straight. He admitted that he could not allow Vengsarkar to stay on because of voting in the AGM. “In any other Board meeting, we could perhaps have allowed two members from an association but in the AGM there is no such provision as there is voting. Vengsarkar’s presence was brought to my notice and I then communicated to him. But even before I told anything to him, Vengsarkar also seemed to have realised that he should not be there.”
Incidentally, it was at this very meeting that Vengsarkar was replaced by one-time teammate Krishnamachari Srikkanth, a decision which left many surprised as the outgoing chief selector had earned praise from none other than Pawar himself for his performance. Constitutionally, Vengsarkar could have continued for two more years.
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