The race for the succession for the BCCI’s top post has took a dramatic turn on Friday when former president Shashank Manohar asserted that he will have no truck with TNCA chief N Srinivasan, irrespective of the alliances that are struck in the run-up to the election for the Board's top post.

Manohar said, "I am not aware of the discussions between Pawar and Srinivasan. As far as I am concerned, I will not align with Srinivasan in any capacity, now or in future." He added, "I have always stood against Srinivasan and his way of functioning that has brought disrepute to the BCCI since the beginning of the IPL scandal and under no circumstances will I join hands with him. This has been my stated position and my view on this issue will not change even if circumstances change."

"On Thursday, Pawar endorsed Srinivasan's views that there is a lot of bitterness in the BCCI and, therefore, it would be in the best interest of the members not to hold a contest," a source in the Pawar camp said.

Manohar went to Delhi to convey the same to Jaitley and Thakur. The BCCI can't afford any more bad blood and factionalism. The game of cricket will suffer. That's the message Pawar wanted to pass on through Manohar," the source added.

"You will not find a shrewder politician than Pawar. He is obviously convinced that Srinivasan has the numbers. Pawar, too, has four or five votes in his bag. And with Shukla and Ganguly (who controls two votes, including the National Cricket Club) also on his side, there is no scope for a contest. You can safely say that with Srinivasan firmly behind Pawar, there is little the other group can do," a source in the Srinivasan camp said.

By Premji