Final touches before BCCI change of guard
MUMBAI: As the final meeting of the Committee of Administrators (CoA) was ending on Tuesday afternoon, Sourav Ganguly entered the Cricket Centre, headquarters of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, at the Wankhede Stadium.
Ganguly will take charge as BCCI’s 39th president on Wednesday, though he had taken control of the proceedings as the new captain of Indian cricket a day earlier. He held a series of brief meetings with top Board officials, being briefed on the set-up before he starts his new innings. At the BCCI AGM on Wednesday morning, the tenure of CoA, which took charge of BCCI in January, 2017, will end once the electoral process for the new office-bearers is completed.
Ganguly (Cricket Association of Bengal) is the unanimous nomination for the BCCI president’s post like that of Gujarat Cricket Association’s Jay Shah, son of union home minister Amit Shah, for secretary, Himachal Cricket Association’s Arun Singh Dhumal, brother of central minister and former BCCI president, Anurag Thakur, for treasurer.
The former India captain will be at the helm only for 10 months as he will have to demit office in July due to the compulsory cooling off period stipulated by the Board’s new constitution. Ganguly also met the CoA chief Vinod Rai. “I had a good meeting with Sourav. We finalised tomorrow’s schedule,” said Rai, who will chair the meeting before handing over charge to Ganguly.“We discussed some of the winding up issues and some minutes of meeting were to be approved.”
All state units are expected to attend but the AGM will be short. Rai said: “First the accounts will be passed for the past three years. Then the electoral officer will announce the election results as everyone is unopposed.”
Though disqualified, old guard N Srinivasan and Niranjan Shah are expected to make their presence felt at the hotel hosting the AGM. CoA member, Diana Edulji said Ganguly will know best the expectations of Indian players from the BCCI president: “It is good that a player (is becoming president), he knows in and out about what is required, when he was a player what he expected of BCCI, and now when he is sitting on that seat, I wish him all the best.”
Lt Gen (retd) Ravi Thodge, who played a crucial role in clearing the way for the BCCI elections, said: “We have at least a cricketer sitting as BCCI president; it’s a matter of pride for the nation, I can say. He’s a man of repute.”
Among Ganguly’s challenges is dealing with the stringent conflict of interest regulations in the new constitution that has made top cricketers reluctant to be part of the BCCI set up. Thodge said CoA was on the same page with Ganguly. “We are in agreement with it. The last time we had a meeting here, Sourav attended on video conference from Kolkata and we had lots of discussions on that issue. He’s aware and it’s one thing that needs to be addressed. Otherwise we’ll have a problem in having anybody as coach, or for any BCCI appointment it will be an issue. “To facilitate cricketers to be involved in administration, it is essential that conflict of interest is re-looked into. It’s not that it should totally go. Where the personal and financial benefits are there, those will be taken care of. But if cricket suffers because of conflict then it needs to be addressed. He (Ganguly) has mentioned the same point because we had an almost threehour discussion at that time.”
SC RULING ON COA
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court directed that the CoA will demit office once elected BCCI officials take charge. A two-judge bench ruled that CoA members and other officers shall be immune from possible legal action by BCCI over their acts while running the cricket body and any such step will require the court’s permission. The court also directed the CoA to submit its approved accounts with the registrar of the Tamil Nadu Society (BCCI registered under the TN Societies Act) within seven days. “By taking on record the accounts of the BCCI, we are not certifying the expenses,” the bench said, fixing the next hearing for November 27.