The Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) administration has come to a standstill ever since the IPL-related matters reached the Supreme Court in 2013.
Many routine decisions have been stalled because the September 2014 AGM had not taken place and it’s not likely to be convened before the last week of the Supreme Court ruled deadline of six weeks from January 22. There is also an all pervading feeling that there could be a big vacuum at the top due to different reasons.
The Supreme Court has virtually ruled out TNCA President N. Srinivasan’s candidature. He was the Treasurer and Secretary of the BCCI together for six years and thereafter he was elected President in 2011.
In the assumption that N. Srinivasan’s term of office, as an administrator from South Zone, would end in September 2014, the BCCI amended its bylaws to facilitate the then DDCA president Arun Jaitley’s candidature being proposed and seconded at the 2014 AGM by East Zone full members.
It was East Zone’s turn from 2014 to 2017 and by the old rule Jaitley could not have been proposed and seconded by East Zone members.
The BCCI has also amended the tenure-related bylaw applicable from the next election. It will give the principal four office-bearers (President, Secretary, Jt. Secretary and Treasurer) and five vice-presidents an election-free run for three years.
However, Jaitley’s decision not to contest the DDCA elections in 2013 opened up another opportunity for Srinivasan to continue his innings with the BCCI. He had the backing of DDCA, especially Jaitley, all South and East Zone members, three from the government representatives in the Services, Railways and All India Universities, and a number of associations from the North and West Zones.
Best administratorFormer first class cricketer, national junior and senior selector, IPL Chairman and Congress MP, Ranjib Biswal told The Hindu : “He (N. Srinivasan) has been the best BCCI administrator in the last 10 years. He managed Indian cricket well on all counts, most importantly streamlined the administration. He worked hard to get recognition and respect for the BCCI in the International Cricket Council (ICC) in the last two years. He is also instrumental in shaping the new sharing of ICC revenues with Australia and England. This is going to help the BCCI and its members in a big way. The only thing that has gone against him is the conflict of interest issue.”
Baroda’s Sanjay Patel, a Chartered Accountant and Haryana’s Anirudh Chaudhry, took charge as Secretary and Treasurer after Sanjay Jagdale and Ajay Shrike resigned soon after the IPL corruption news broke out. Both were Srinivasan’s pick.
The BCCI members would like Jaitley to be at the helm; but as of now that looks unlikely. Sources said that Jaitley and Srinivasan and a few members would decide on the future course of action and identify candidates for the principal office-bearers and even vice-presidents.
ClaimantsApart from Sanjay Patel, Anirudh Chaudhry and Anurag Thakur (presently Jt. Secretary), others who could be discussed for posts other than the President are Biswal and Karnataka’s Brijesh Patel.
Prof. Ratnakar Shetty has been in administration for many years, especially with the BCCI which has helped him to get familiarise with all activities, but he has to come out of the BCCI employment to consider for the post.
It’s imperative though for the BCCI to identify three senior office-bearers’ posts. They will be sought after by the Supreme Court appointed three-member panel to recommend reforms and suggest best practices to run affairs of the game in the country.
