Vexed BCCI mandarins brace for SGM ahead of SC verdict

Kolkata: When the BCCI Special General Meeting (SGM) is held in Delhi on Saturday, October 15, chances are board members will reject most of the contentious Lodha committee reforms, if the BCCI bigwigs advise them to do so. Board officials said that it would be wrong to predict what the SGM would decide but indications are Lodha's recommendations will face a lot of opposition. The key suggestions that Lodha has mooted pertain to one-state one-vote rule, three-year cooling-off period for officials before taking up another post in BCCI and the tenure of officials.

A few of the SGM members who spoke to TOI on Thursday said that most of the representatives were 'confused about their positions' and if there is a resolution to reject the reforms, they won't hesitate to do that. Of course, the Supreme Court would then pass a stern order on October 17 when it hears the case.

"The members are still confused. There is absolutely no clarity till now on what BCCI would be doing to avoid an embarrassment," an official said.

The Lodha panel, on the other hand, isn't reading too much into the SGM. In fact, their expectation is to see another rejection of the reforms by the BCCI.

Meanwhile, all eyes are on those two affidavits, which would be filed by BCCI president Anurag Thakur and senior official Ratnakar Shetty in the Supreme Court on Monday. Those affidavits would deal with certain intricate issues.

Already, five witnesses reportedly have come on record to claim that BCCI had indeed asked ICC to write a letter to protest against Lodha panel's reforms and threaten India's exclusion from world cricket fraternity on grounds of government interference. ICC had refused to toe the BCCI line. Therefore, the SGM decision won't be of any significance if the reforms are rejected once again. At the SGM, BCCI is also expected to discuss the recent move of the world governing body to give the chairmanship of the development committee to Thakur and its legal repercussions.