INDIAN CRICKET
The elections will be held on September 28. © AFP
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has scheduled its much-awaited Annual General Meeting (AGM) on September 28, the day of the Asia Cup final. The general body will meet at 11:30 AM at the BCCI headquarters in Mumbai to, among other business, conduct elections for its office-bearers.
According to a communique to state associations from secretary Devajit Saikia, the elections will be held for the posts of president, vice-president, secretary, joint secretary, and treasurer.
The formation of the Apex Council of the BCCI and the Governing Councils of the Indian Premier League (IPL) and Women’s Premier League (WPL) are also on the agenda of the AGM. The BCCI will induct one representative of the General Body and two representatives of the Indian Cricketers’ Association into the Apex Council.
The central point of the AGM, of course, will be to form a new set of office-bearers who will run Indian cricket for at least the next three years or until the impending Sports Bill supersedes the current constitution. It is not clear whether the BCCI will hold fresh elections once the Sports Bill comes into effect in six months, but at present, the board has decided to follow the Supreme Court-approved and Lodha Committee-recommended constitution.
As of now, the impression is that secretary Saikia, who has been an office-bearer for only three years – first as the joint secretary and later in the current position (for the last eight months) – will continue for another term, as will treasurer Prabhtej Singh Bhatia (Chhattisgarh) and joint secretary Rohan Gauns Dessai (Goa). Both Bhatia and Dessai are in their first term, having been elected to the posts earlier this year.
It is, however, not clear who will be the president and vice-president. A big name is making the rounds internally for the president’s post, while there is no immediate clarity on the candidate for the vice-president’s position. The incumbent is Rajeev Shukla, who is currently acting as president after Roger Binny had to demit the president’s office on reaching 70 years of age in July. Shukla might be in line for an important position, such as the IPL chairmanship, but that will depend on how the present IPL chairman Arun Singh Dhumal’s tenure is being viewed.
Dhumal served as BCCI treasurer for three years between 2019 and 2022 before taking charge of the IPL. Having held positions for six consecutive years, the current constitution requires him to undergo a three-year cooling-off period. However, there have been divergent views on whether the IPL chairman’s role qualifies as that of an office-bearer. If it does not, Dhumal could continue in his position.
© Cricbuzz
