All eyes will be on Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Sourav Ganguly as the nomination process starts in the lead-up to the Board’s annual general meeting with an influential Union minister understood to be calling the shots.
Tuesday and Wednesday have been marked for filing of nominations at the Board headquarters in Mumbai but most of the activity is expected to be completed on the opening day itself. This includes the nomination papers for the positions of president, secretary, vice-president, joint secretary and treasurer.
Nominations can be withdrawn on Friday and the AGM is on October 18. Besides the five office-bearers, nominations for two IPL governing council members and one apex council member will also have to be filed.
The who’s who of Indian cricket’s administration is already in Mumbai and a veil of suspense and tension has gripped the hierarchy as they wait for the final word from the leading minister.
There’s a lot of uncertainty over the president’s post. While incumbent Sourav stays in the contest, Roger Binny’s name has been floated by a certain section with the backing of a powerful former BCCI official. Secretary Jay Shah is being seen as the dark horse.
Besides Shah, treasurer Arun Singh Dhumal, vice-president Rajeev Shukla and Delhi District Cricket Association president Rohan Jaitley are among others who are tipped to get prime posts in the BCCI pecking order. To file a nomination, a candidate has to have two proposers.
The BCCI mandarins, including former presidents N. Srinivasan and Anurag Thakur, had met informally last week in New Delhi in the presence of the Union minister. Nothing official emerged out of it though the minister is learnt to have given a patient hearing to everyone.
There is no precedent of a BCCI president having two consecutive terms and those advocating for a change at the top have been harping on this logic. Former India captain Sourav’s stature is, however, proving to be a huge impediment to his removal.
There is talk that Sourav’s name will be proposed for the chairmanship of the International Cricket Council (ICC). Incumbent Greg Barclay has already made it clear that he is interested in another two-year term. Sourav moving to the ICC will mean Barclay will have to be asked to stay away or go into a contest when the elections are due in November. The deadline for filing nominations for the ICC chairman’s post is October 20.
A lot of interest also surrounds the IPL chairman’s position. Brijesh Patel fails to qualify because of the age factor (he is 70) and Shukla could be an alternative. There could be a few surprises in store even if Sourav gets another term as president.
