Years after Anurag Thakur exit, brother Arun set to take charge of HPCA

SHIMLA: Years after the exit of Anurag Thakur, who is now Union Minister of State (Finance and Corporate Affairs), Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association -- a cricket body he successfully headed got its new President Arun Dhumal, Anurag's younger brother on Thursday.

The election of the new body was held at Dharamshala at Annual General Body meeting of the Association.

The elections were conducted under the supervision of former Additional Chief Secretary Manisha Nanda, who had earlier also served as state's Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), who was earlier appointed as electoral Officer as par Supreme Court's wishes.

Arun Dhumal, 43, was the only candidate, who had filed his nomination for the post of the HPCA president before the expiry of the deadline on Wednesday. He was declared duly elected to the post of the HPCA president. His is the son of former Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal.

His election brings the wheel back to full circle when Anurag Thakur also steadily moved into the HPCA'S plum post and subsequently made his way to the BCCI – a powerful cricket body he also headed for some time. He remained HPCA president between 2000 to 2017.

This was also a prime period when he headed the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) and got elected to the Parliament from Hamirpur — a seat which his father Dhumal had presented thrice.

In 2017, Anurag Thakur was removed from the BCCI Chairman's post by the Supreme Court for not implementing Lodha Committee recommendations.

“Anurag Thakur's dream to build a national cricket academy in Himachal Pradesh, 70 cricket sub-coaching centres and a cricket event remained unfilled. I am happy to get the new responsibility to carry forward Anurag Thakur's agenda to make Himachal Pradesh a cricket capital, and give opportunities to hundreds of youths to make their sporting careers,” Arun Dhumal told the Millennium Post when contacted at Dharamshala over the phone.