BCCI's secret meeting: Did Arun Jaitley, Anurag Thakur meet in Mumbai to seal Shashank Manohar's fate as president?

New Delhi: While the people in Mumbai were busy in Ganesh visarjan procession on Sunday, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and few other top BCCI officials met for a secret meeting, according to report.

According to a report published in Mumbai Mirror, some of the Indian cricket's most powerful men got together in a very confidential meeting at a Bandra five-star hotel to seal the appointment of Shashank Manohar as the BCCI's next president.

The discussion was headed by Arun Jaitley. He was joined by Manohar, Board's secretary Anurag Thakur, and Maharashtra Cricket Association chief Ajay Shirke. Earlier in the day, Manohar and Shirke visited Sharad Pawar at the latter's residence in Mumbai.

In the meeting which is said to have lasted for over three hours, several key issues were discussed. Some of them being the credibility of the Board which has witnessed a downfall of late and also former BCCI president N Srinivasan's ongoing conflict of interest issue. If the report is to be believed, why the cricket-frenzy nation isn't producing enough match-winners, was also a hot topic of discussion.

The members who attended the meeting also raised concerns about the top officials' internal mails finding their way to the media with worrying regularity.

“Those present wanted the new administration, more precisely the new president, to take measures that will restore the Board's credibility," the source said without elaborating on the matter of snooping and hacking.

To keep Srini away from BCCI matters as far as possible, the other factions have convinced Manohar for a second term as the BCCI president.

While the BCCI has called for its Special General Meeting (SGM) on Sunday to elect its new president post the demise of Jagmohan Dalmiya, in all likelihood, the confirmation of Manohar succeeding Dalmiya seems to be just a formality.