Ganguly and N Srinivasan arriving to file the former's nomination © AFP

Explaining how the dynamics of 'enmity one day and friendship on another' works within BCCI, Niranjan Shah - the former board secretary - had told in 2016, "We are like a family, and like every family, we also have our fights. There is bickering all the time, so you will see equations change. But if someone from outside needles us, we will unite and fight against them."

So it came as no surprise that when the old guards of BCCI had to wrestle back power, they knew their best bet would be to have a united front. And to compose that unity, N Srinivasan was the frontman, later supported by Anurag Thakur. They convinced almost all the state associations on this plan. One of the key members who didn't buy straightaway into this idea was UPCA's Rajiv Shukla. However, his reluctance too was nipped in the bud and it didn't take long for him to realise that he had invited trouble by going against the masterplan.

Till afternoon, a day ahead of the deadline for filing the nominations for elections, certain things were clear. They needed a cricketer to be the face of newly the reformed body, and in that Sourav Ganguly and Brijesh Patel were shortlisted. While Ganguly was certainly a bigger name as a cricketer, Brijesh brought along years of experience as an administrator, reputation and was a highly trusted member of the Srinivasan clan.

What was also sure until then was that Jay Shah and Arun Dhumal will contest for the posts of secretary and treasurer respectively. With two of Thakur's men already taking key positions in the BCCI apex council, it was almost a straightforward pathway for Brijesh to get the president's post.

It was all very well set up. Srinvasan had reportedly met Home Minister Amit Shah in the morning, and by the time Anurag Thakur joined the discussion, everything seemed equally distributed, with each party getting an equal share, and so also each of the zones.

But then began the lobbying. It took hours of deliberation even on Sunday. For a meeting that had started early in the morning, it was only close to 11:00 PM that the flip eventually happened.

For Srinivasan's candidate to be ousted, there needed to be more powerful forces at play. And given the nature of the job and its profile, it was attracting the attention from all across the country. Ganguly, soon after filing his nomination, might have discredited the role of a 'big politician' involved in the process. But those in the know-how of the developments admit the gamechanger was the role of a politician from Assam, a man who holds considerable influence for the national ruling party in the North-East. His backing of Ganguly is believed to have tipped the scales firmly in favour of the former India captain.

What power-battles and bargaining took place in private - to fight on behalf of Ganguly and convince Srinivasan - in the midst of all this remains only a matter of speculation at the moment.

That Ganguly was eventually chosen as the nominee for president allowed Srinivasan to field Kerala Cricket Association's Jayesh George for the post of joint secretary. However, he remained Srinivasan's only trusted man in the setup, with Thakur eventually having three of his.