02:26
‘It’s a victory for the game of cricket’ – Lodha
A sense of confusion and uncertainty prevailed in the BCCI in the wake of the Supreme Court order on January 2, which removed the board president, secretary, and all other office bearers – at state level too – who did not meet the Lodha Committee’s eligibility criteria.
The biggest question concerned the board’s leadership, after Anurag Thakur and Ajay Shirke had been removed from the BCCI’s top two posts, because there seemed to be a lack of clarity over the eligibility criteria for an office bearer.
The court the said the most senior vice-president would perform the interim role of president and joint-secretary Amitabh Choudhury would perform the interim role of secretary. But how was the BCCI to decide which of its five vice-presidents was senior most – through age or experience?
“I understand that the president and secretary were removed for not implementing the Lodha recommendations. But there is no clarity on the eligibility criteria right now,” a BCCI official said.” Hence we do not know exactly how office bearers can eventually continue.”
According to the official, none of the vice-presidents would be eligible for the interim president’s role according to the conditions set by the Lodha Committee. Of the five BCCI vice-presidents, four – GK Ganga Raju, CK Khanna, ML Nehru and TC Mathew – have served more than nine years at their respective cricket associations, which makes them ineligible to hold office at state level. It is unclear whether that will impact their BCCI role.
Gautam Roy, another vice-president, is not a part of the Assam Cricket Association anymore, putting in doubt his role as a BCCI office bearer. If they were all eligible, the choice could be between Khanna and Ganga Raju, two of the longest-serving office bearers in the BCCI.
Choudhury, who was to perform the secretary’s duties, did not comment, saying he had not yet read the order. The BCCI official, however, was not certain whether Choudhury could take charge as secretary.
“Everybody has a problem. Even Amitabh is the president of the Jharkhand State Cricket Association (JSCA),” the BCCI official said, wondering whether Choudhury could be eligible considering he has been with JSCA for more than nine years.
He felt the panel of administrators, which is likely to be appointed by the court on January 19, would effectively run the BCCI, making the roles of interim office bearers redundant.
“The definition of interim is not clear. Does that mean these interim roles will be performed till the panel of administrators is appointed? Or till the BCCI conducts fresh elections? If that is the case both the president and secretary should not be removed. How can people who are not eligible according to the Lodha recommendations continue while those two cannot?”
Ever since the Supreme Court passed the majority of the Lodha Committee’s recommendations in an order on July 18, 2016, the BCCI cited the state associations’ resistance as the reason it could not implement them unconditionally. After the order on January 2, however, several state officials indicated their willingness to fall in line.
“We are mentally prepared at the ACA to accept the recommendations and implement them once the full order makes things clear,” Ganga Raju, who is also president of the Andhra Cricket Association, said.
Mathew, who has been a Kerala Cricket Association office bearer for 20 years in various capacities, decided to step down as its president on Monday. He said he had finished nine years as a BCCI office bearer and thought it was best to resign.
A BCCI official said the biggest challenge for the BCCI would be to find able administrators to run the game. “But no one is indispensable,” he said.
Nagraj Gollapudi is a senior assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo