These are testing times for the BCCI even as the Asia Cup kicked-off on Tuesday (September 9) in the UAE. While India are the technical hosts of the showpiece event, UAE took over as the official hosts for the tournament due to the escalated political tensions between India and Pakistan. Meanwhile, the BCCI is without an official sponsor after Dream11's pullout due to the Online Gaming Bill and the Board elections are also due on September 28 with a plethora of rumours doing the rounds regarding the possible candidates for the big job.
One of the major rumours has been regarding batting legend Sachin Tendulkar's alleged interest in the role. While his peers Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman have all gone into coaching or administrator roles in some capacity, Tendulkar has stayed away from that zone. His only role of any merit has been the position of mentor that he holds with the IPL franchise Mumbai Indians and that too isn't an official post. Which is why Sachin's alleged interest in the BCCI elections sounded weird from the outset and it has proven to be so.
On Thursday (September 11), Tendulkar's firm SRT Sports Management Pvt. Ltd. has issued a statement clarifying the matter.
"It has come to our attention that certain reports and rumours have been circulating regarding Mr. Sachin Tendulkar being considered, or nominated, for the position of President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)," said the official statement from Tendulkar's firm.
"We wish to categorically state that no such development has taken place."
Tendulkar is yet to officially deny the rumours but given that his own firm has dished out a public statement, it means a full stop the existing rumours. September 12 is the deadline for the contenders to file their nominations for the BCCI elections which will be conducted for the posts of president, vice-president, secretary, joint secretary and treasurer. Rajeev Shukla, BCCI's vice-president and Chairman of IPL, is tipped to be the frontrunner for the BCCI president's role although that too has to be taken with a pinch of salt.