Calcutta: Only the coronation remains.
Except that, the men who matter in the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), and those who wield the strongest influence from outside, are understood to have reached a "settlement" on the top-most positions in the 87-year old organisation.
While The Telegraph has already reported that politician Anurag Thakur, the current secretary, would become the president, it is now unofficially confirmed - to the extent one can stick one's neck out in intra-BCCI matters - that industrialist Ajay Shirke will succeed Thakur.
Shirke is a former treasurer of the BCCI and is considered exceedingly close to Sharad Pawar and Shashank Manohar. He'd quit as treasurer following the IPL-related scandals involving the Chennai Super Kings and the Rajasthan Royals.
That was back in May 2013.
It is learnt that Manohar played the lead role in ensuring that Shirke (who heads the Maharashtra Cricket Association) returns as an office-bearer in the BCCI.
That apart, Shirke shares a fine equation with Thakur. That is not insignificant.
According to the BCCI's constitution, after all, it would be left to the next president to "nominate" the secretary who, for now, will be in office till the next AGM.
Usually, the AGM is in September.
Manohar's resignation as the BCCI president has led to the most sought-after chair being vacant. Thakur's promotion would lead to one more vacancy.
Thakur and Shirke's coronation will be in Mumbai on Sunday, the day chosen for yet another SGM of the BCCI.
Shirke is in the UK at this point in time, but would be back on Friday night, well before the SGM.
Pawar, incidentally, won't be present at the SGM. That itself is a strong indication that things have been finalised.
Surely, Pawar wouldn't have been overseas (as is being mentioned) had things been unsettled in the BCCI.
Union minister Arun Jaitley and Pawar are the biggest players in the BCCI of 2016. Jaitley first, well ahead of Pawar, who comes a distant second.
However, there's a difference: Jaitley isn't part of the organisation, Pawar heads the Mumbai Cricket Association.
