Justice Lodha says no complaint against Ajay Shirke over England series
Justice Lodha has stated that he did not receive any formal complaint against ousted BCCI secretary Ajay Shirke after reports emerged that he had tried to scuttle the limited-overs series between India and England
Justice (retd) RM Lodha said on Thursday that he has not received any formal complaint against ousted BCCI secretary Ajay Shirke following reports he had tried to scuttle England’s limited-overs tour of India.
“Actually, our paramount concern is to conduct the one-day matches without any hurdle,” he told HT. “To ensure smooth arrangements, we had asked BCCI CEO Rahul Johri to provide all e-mail exchanges with the England Cricket Board. Only then did we come to know about Mr Shirke’s communications with EBC president Giles Clark.”
According to reports, Shirke called up Clark and briefed him about the problems BCCI has faced in hosting the series. A worried Clark then sent an e-mail to Johri and discussed Shirke’s call with him.
Shirke has rejected allegations, terming them as a bunch of lies.
“At the moment it is (Shirke’s call to Clark) not in our mind. I dont think we are going to put it in our next status report. Our entire focus is on the one-day series. The game should not suffer,” Justice Lodha said.
Former India captain Mohammad Azharuddin, who was banned for life by BCCI in 2000 after being found guilty of match-fixing, has decided to contest for the post of president in the Hyderabad Cricket Association.
The candidature of Azhar has raised many eyebrows. The former player’s ban was annulled by a court order, but the BCCI has not formally lifted it. But justice Lodha refused to react on this development.
“The matter is sub-judice, I don’t want to comment,” the former CJI said.
Following Supreme Court’s order on January 2, BCCI president Anurag Thakur and Shirke were ousted.