Seven former cricketers, including two India captains, will attend the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) annual general meeting in Mumbai on October 23.
The BCCI released the draft electoral roll on Friday evening and it included Sourav Ganguly and Mohammed Azharuddin, the presidents of Cricket Association of Bengal and Hyderabad Cricket Association, respectively.
The electoral roll includes former Test cricketers Brijesh Patel (Karnataka State Cricket Association) and Harvinder Singh (Railways) along with former Ranji Trophy cricketers Jaydev Shah (Saurashtra), Rajeev Nayyar (who played for Himachal but will represent Universities) and Lt Col. Sanjai Verma (Services).
Never in the history of the BCCI have so many former cricketers attended an AGM and Justice Rajendra Mal Lodha should deserve much of the credit for that.
Several politicians also feature in the 38-member pool, which includes Rajasthan Cricket Association’s Vaibhav Gehlot, son of chief minister Ashok Gehlot, and Arun Singh Dhumal (Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association), brother of Union minister Anurag Thakur and son of former chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal.
Union home minister Amit Shah’s son Jay Shah will represent Gujarat Cricket Association. Veteran politician Rajeev Shukla will also be there from Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association.
According to The Telegraph’s sources, Rajat Sharma, who enjoys significant political backing, remains the front-runner to head the BCCI though Jay Shah’s presence is sure to turn heads. The Gujarat strongman is being tipped for the secretary’s post though Patel’s aspirations can’t be ruled out.
A contest, however, seems unlikely for any of the posts.
The Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) will be represented by R.S. Ramasaamy after N. Srinivasan decided not to get involved directly. The TNCA has agreed to amend their constitution on 19 of the 21 points suggested by the Committee of Administrators. However, the association has not adhered to the nine-year cap for an office-bearer and will also stick to its stand of having two vice-presidents.
The BCCI electoral officer, N. Gopalaswami, will now scrutinise the applications and determine whether they are ‘compliant’.
