Sourav Ganguly is believed to be well placed to retain the president’s chair in the run-up to the annual general meeting of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in Mumbai on October 18.
There was a flurry of activity in New Delhi on Thursday evening among the BCCI bigwigs as the deadline to file nominations drew near. Besides the office-bearers and outgoing IPL chairman Brijesh Patel, former Board president N. Srinivasan also took part in the discussions. An influential minister in the Narendra Modi government is also learnt to have hosted one of the meetings at his residence.
As per the timeline set by the electoral officer, the nominations can be filed on October 11 and 12 and the scrutiny will take place on October 13 while the date of withdrawal has been fixed for October 14. The BCCI’s constitution also allows a member to withdraw his nomination on the floor of the AGM.
Jay Shah. File picture
Sources told The Telegraph that nothing definite emerged out of Thursday’s congregation and there was no indication that the BCCI hierarchy would see a significant change. The presence of Roger Binny’s name on the electoral rolls as the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) representative did raise a few eyebrows but it is unlikely that he will land any position in the BCCI.
The 1983 World Cup-winning member and KSCA president enjoys the support of a BCCI heavyweight but such aspirations won’t find common ground. KSCA secretary Santosh Menon had been their representative at the last AGM.
Speculation that Jay Shah, son of Union home minister Amit Shah, is interested in succeeding Sourav has been doing the rounds since the Supreme Court announced a slew of amendments but there was nothing to suggest during the course of the meeting that such a move was being planned.
Sources revealed that the election to the chair of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in November did come up for discussion. There is talk that Sourav could succeed Greg Barclay at the ICC but that seems doubtful at the moment. A prominent Board member from North India may, however, come up with such a proposal at the AGM.
“As of now, Sourav is filing his nomination for the Board president’s position. Some people are trying to float names and create a flutter. It is unlikely that there will be a contest or change in the status of the office-bearers,” a source told The Telegraph.
With current ICC chairman Barclay having already made his intentions public of continuing for another two-year term, stopping him could show the BCCI in poor light. There’s a possibility that Barclay would be allowed to continue for another two years and the BCCI would then put forward Sourav’s nomination for the ICC chair in 2024. This would allow Jay Shah to assume the BCCI president’s position for one year before going into the mandatory cooling-off period.
It is no secret that Sourav had attained the BCCI president’s chair in October 2019 with blessings from the government at the Centre. But such an intervention could be improbable this time, Thursday’s meeting with an influential minister notwithstanding.
Veterans in the Board are still unwilling to stick their necks out and predict that there will be no change in the president’s position. “Remember when Sourav assumed the chair in Mumbai three years ago, things had seen a dramatic change after it was almost decided that Brijesh Patel would be the president. So keep yourself ready for any last-minute twist to the plot,” remarked a veteran.
Till Friday, only 35 of the 38 state associations had nominated their representatives while Railways, Services, and Universities have requested the electoral officer for more time.
