Mumbai: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will elect its new president on September 28. A notification of BCCI’s 94th AGM where elections will be held was sent to its 38 state units on Saturday.
Elections for the post of the other office-bearers – secretary, treasurer, joint secretary and vice-president – will also be held. The IPL governing council will also be reconstituted.
But all eyes will be on who steps up to become the president. For the last two terms 2019 onwards, since the BCCI constitution was revised as per the justice RM Lodha reforms, the practice has been to have an ex-cricketer of repute to hold the top post. Former India captain Sourav Ganguly was the president between 2019-22 and 1983 World Cup winner Roger Binny came in next. Binny gave up the post in July when he turned 71, which made him ineligible as per the age cap in the BCCI rule book.
Seasoned administrator Rajiv Shukla, being the vice-president, is currently the acting president. Shukla is known to be among a raft of people hopeful of getting the post, but clarity may emerge two weeks before election day when eligible members file nomination papers. Around the same time, a meeting of influential officials is likely to discuss the next set of office-bearers. As has been the practice for the past two terms, a unanimous list of candidates may be drawn up.
Shukla has only 14 months left to remain an office-bearer before the cooling-off period sets in. But in the next few months, the National Sports Governance Bill is likely to be notified, based on which, the tenure guidelines will be relaxed. The question, therefore, is not about his eligibility, but whether BCCI would want to depart from the practice of having a former player run cricket. Names of some high profile former players are doing the rounds, but high earning professionals may not be inclined to take up the honorary position.
Shukla could still be a contender to become IPL chairman, replacing Arun Dhumal. There is one view though that the IPL top job is not counted the way an office-bearer’s post is. In that case, Dhumal would remain eligible to stay in the chair.
The current secretary, Devajit Saikia, who took over from Jay Shah eight months ago, has collectively been in office for three years. He is eligible to serve a full three-year term and is tipped to continue. Prabhtej Bhatia and Rohan Desai took over as treasurer and joint secretary in March and they too are eligible to continue. Whether a rejig is needed among the office-bearers would depend a lot on maintaining zonal balance.
Rohit, Virat likely to play vs Aus A
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli could be picked for the three-match 50 overs series between India A and Australia in Kanpur, ahead of the ODI series in Australia starting on October 19, it is learnt.
On a break after his Test retirement in May, Rohit attended the recent round of fitness assessments in Bengaluru’s Centre of Excellence. Kohli spends a lot of time in London and his fitness has also been monitored. If he is to be picked for the Australia series, the former captain may undergo a round of fitness assessments in Bengaluru this month.
While Rohit and Kohli are keen to keep playing ODI cricket, having a long-term vision for them is not proving easy with the ODI calendar quite spaced out. As reported before, even if Rohit is selected, a decision on ODI captaincy will be taken with a long term outlook.
As ODI captain, Rohit, 38, has a stellar record having led India to the 2025 Champions Trophy, after India finished runners-up in the 2023 World Cup at home. But with the next ODI World Cup more than two years away, he does not have age on his side. Discussions are likely to involved head coach Gautam Gambhir and Rohit himself before a call on the captaincy is taken.
