At Special General Meeting, BCCI top brass set to go into a huddle

“If the Supreme Court committee looks after the Indian board’s day to day business then it will lead to more damage. The smart way to go about it at this moment is to quietly agree to all the Lodha’s committees recommendations,” a state association official told this paper.

However, certain sections of the BCCI feel that the board must continue to defy the Lodha committee.

The BCCI have already been pulled up by the committee for having gone ahead and taken decisions that they were directed not to at their AGM last week. The board had not only appointed Ajay Shirke as their secretary but also announced their new selection committees. And if the BCCI does go ahead and implement the Lodha-suggested reforms then those appointments will be deemed null and void. That will entail Shirke stepping down from his position. It’ll also mean newly appointed selectors, Jatin Paranjpe and Gagan Khoda, can’t serve as selectors since they do not fit the eligibility criteria set by the Lodha committee since they never played Tests. The future of the selection committee is in the air considering the BCCI announced a five-member panel whereas Lodha had stated that only three selectors were required. It will also take away the authority of appointing the new ombudsman away from president Anurag Thakur as was decided at the AGM.

But in case the BCCI do hold fort and chose to defy the committee, the Supreme Court could well ‘appoint in their place a Panel of Adminstrators’ that could include a former India captain in it to steer the ship.

However, if a Supreme Court-appointed committee were to take over, the BCCI might face repercussions, even suspension, from the International Cricket Council (ICC). As article 2.9 of the ICC’s rulebook, says, “Members must provide for (a) free elections and/or (b) appointments from amongst their members for their executive body or nominees from outside their members appointed by their executive body. Where a government interferes in the administration of cricket by a Member, including but not limited to interference in operational matters… the Executive Board shall have the power to suspend or refuse to recognise that Member, subject to the provisions of Article 2.7.”

That leaves the BCCI further in a mire and even those within the board offices have resigned to the fact that the time for defiance is over. “BCCI has no choice, the time to fight has already gone. The SC has announced its judgment. The board’s legal wing too has advised them to accept all reforms. There are people in the BCCI who still believe that they should fight but they are not looking at what might happen thereafter,” a BCCI functionary said.