Two office bearers will retain their posts and one is set to get a promotion of sorts, but the key takeaway from nomination day at the Board of Control for Cricket in India BCCI headquarters on Tuesday was that all decks have been cleared for Roger Binny to replace Sourav Ganguly as its next president.The 1983 World Cup winner was the only one to file his nomination for the post of president. He was proposed and seconded by Saurashtra Cricket Association president Jaydev Shah and outgoing joint secretary Jayesh George. Jay Shah and Rajiv Shukla will hold on to their posts of Secretary and Vice President while Arun Dhumal will move from the post as BCCI treasurer to chairman of the Indian Premier League.The development though leaves Ganguly s future in Indian cricket administration in some doubt. The former India skipper currently heads the International Cricket Committee s ICC men s cricket committee.With each position having one nomination and elections avoided, BCCI successfully projected a united front while getting the optics right a former cricketer continuing to hold the top post.
There is no better way of running an organisation if people are elected unanimously, Shukla said.For the cameras, both Ganguly and Binny walked in at the same time. But behind the scenes, the past few days in the lead up to the nominations have been filled with high drama. Shukla was keen on a higher position. nbsp;Ganguly did not want to be singled out as the only top official having to vacate his post, but this was a call taken by the entire Board. It was also argued, says an insider, that the tradition in BCCI has been for the president to hold office only for one term.Earlier on Tuesday, there was a final round of discussion on the distribution of posts. Ganguly was given the option of becoming IPL chairman. He saw it as a demotion and refused, an official familiar with the developments said. With Dhumal taking the IPL chairmanship from former cricketer Brijesh Patel, Ashish Shelar became the pick for the treasurer s post.
The Mumbai BJP president will now withdraw his candidature from the Mumbai Cricket Association elections where he was expected to run for president.In line with BCCI s equal zonal representation policy, Assam Cricket Association secretary Devajit Saikia is set to become the joint secretary. Other than playing four first class matches for Assam, he is also advocate general, the state s top law officer. Avishek Dalmiya, son of former board president, the late Jagmohan Dalmiya, will feature in the IPL GC as a BCCI representative. He will replace Cricket Association of Mizoram s Mamon Majumdar, who switches to the Apex Council.While Wednesday is the last date for filing of nominations and Thursday is when the election officer announces the final list following scrutiny, it appears a foregone conclusion that all those who filed their papers on Tuesday will become the new office bearers at the October 18 AGM.GANGULY S EXITGanguly did not speak to the media after the filing the nominations. There had been constant chatter in BCCI circles that the former India captain would not feature in the new set up despite the cooling off roadblock having been lifted by the Supreme Court.
It became evident when his name didn t feature among options for the top post during a high profile meeting of senior past BCCI administrators with political clout in New Delhi last week.Ganguly is eligible to run for the International Cricket Council ICC chair. But there is no indication from the BCCI power centre if they are inclined to throw their weight behind his candidature. A final call will be taken at the AGM, an official said. Other than Ganguly, former BCCI head and union sports minister Anurag Thakur could also enter the fray for ICC s top job if he gets the green signal from the government.JAY SHAH KEYDespite all the interest around the president s chair, constitutionally the position of BCCI secretary is of equal importance. Shah, 34, during his last tenure played a lead role in policy making, from building bridges with member nations at ICC on taking over from the court appointed Committee of Administrators to creating a window for the expanded IPL to structuring the IPL media rights tender that fetched a whopping 48,390 crore to the board.
Shah is expected to have a big say in the running the BCCI affairs in his coming tenure.THE NOMINATIONSBCCI president Roger BinnySecretary Jay ShahTreasurer Ashish ShelarJt secretary Devajit SaikiyaIPL Chairman Arun DhumalVice president Rajiv ShuklaBCCI elected rep in IPL GC Avishek DalmiyaApex Council member Mamon Majumdar