The Board of Control for Cricket India (BCCI) annual general meeting on Thursday could get a stormy moment if members feel uncomfortable about President Sourav Ganguly’s branding, some of whom are in direct competition with the Indian board. With no objection from the sponsors of BCCI, the question before Ganguly may not be legal, but ethical.
Former Indian captain Ganguly was on familiar turf on Wednesday, leading a team of board members in a friendly at the newly renovated Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad. The board members were unwilling to undertake whether questions about Ganguly would be asked at the meeting. “If someone brings the issue up at the meeting, Ganguly has a line of defense,” said a government unit official close to the president.
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Apart from that, the selection will be ratified by three bodies: a BCCI Vice President and two members of the IPL Governing Council. Rajiv Shukla will return as Vice President and Brijesh Patel will continue to serve as IPL Chair. The BCCI players’ association has appointed the former weirdo Pragyan Ojha to succeed Surinder Khanna as a representative on the government council.
Also on the agenda is the “Admission of 2 (two) new teams to the Indian Premier League”. The proposal is likely to be adopted unanimously, paving the way for a major IPL. Before IPL 14 next year, however, there is little time for tenders for new teams.
BCCI officials are also required to keep members informed of discussions with the government on the delicate issue of tax exemption for hosting ICC events. The ICC has given until December 31st so that the T20 World Championship 2021 can be moved from India to the UAE, unless the BCCI compensates the world association. On Wednesday board members said they were confident “a middle ground will be struck”. Greg Barclay, the new ICC Chairman, is known to get on well with BCCI.
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BCCI must also inform ICC of its stance on including cricket in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. The BCCI legal team is working on how to bypass the sports ministry’s allegation if BCCI is to join the Olympic movement.
Agarkar front runner
Former fast bowler Ajit Agarkar is the front runner when it comes to snagging the selector berth from the West Zone, and as the top cricketer (26 Tests and 191 ODIs) he could be the next chairman of the selectors.
The Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC), led by Madan Lal, will virtually interview the candidates on Thursday in order to fill the three vacancies on the Senior Selection Committee. Sunil Joshi is currently the chairman who has played 15 tests. Harvinder Singh is the other selector from the Central Zone.
In addition to Agarkar, the former sailor Abey Kuruvilla from the west has applied. Chetan Sharma and Maninder Singh from the North Zone applied and East has three candidates in Shiv Sunder Das, Debashish Mohanty and Ranadeb Bose.
Jatin Paranjpe (West), Devang Gandhi (East) and Sarandeep Singh (North) have completed their terms. The new committee will select India’s team for the home tests against England starting February 5th.