Sourav Ganguly Among Leading Contenders to Be Next BCCI Office-Bearers Post CoA Era

Three names that have come out as favourites to take control of BCCI are Jay Shah, Brijesh Patel and Sourav Ganguly.

With the affiliated units of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) set to meet in Mumbai on Sunday, the decision makers met in the national capital on Saturday evening to decide on who will be the new office bearers of the board.

Even though the meeting went on late into the night, the three names that have come out as favourites to take control on October 23 are Jay Shah, Brijesh Patel and Sourav Ganguly.

While the final decision on who will wear the captain’s hat (President) and who will be deputy (Secretary) awaits, it is strongly believed that the trio of Brijesh, Jay and Ganguly could be given the responsibility of guiding the board post the era of the Committee of Administrators (CoA).

The likes of Arun Dhumal, Jayesh George and Prabhtej Patel could be handed the other hot seats in what will be a fresh start for the BCCI office bearers after the CoA hands over power on October 23.

Interestingly, while the likes of Anurag Thakur, N. Srinivasan, Sourav Ganguly, Rajeev Shukla and Niranjan Shah met in the capital, a few senior members who will be representing their associations in the BCCI elections held their own closed door meeting in Mumbai.

The affiliated units of the board will now be apprised of these names when they meet for lunch in Mumbai on Sunday. There will also be a dinner party to be hosted by a former BCCI President on Sunday evening.

Monday is the last date for filing nominations for the office bearers’ posts and the five candidates are set to do the same in person.

While Ganguly’s name is still doing the rounds for the position of President, it is believed that Jay and Brijesh could be slightly ahead in the race with the latter becoming the President and Jay taking on the role of Secretary.

Those aware of the jigsaw that is BCCI politics believe that a final call could well be taken minutes before Sunday’s meeting in Mumbai.

In fact, while many thought that former Presidents Srinivasan and Thakur would look to get their favourites into the positions of strength, the duo believe that there should be widespread representation after the Committee of Administrators (CoA) were in charge for the last few years.

“The old war horses feel that the way forward is to have equal representation and while only five names can be given for the top spots, the Apex Council will also see a similar widespread representation. The idea is to give people their right to express themselves,” a BCCI functionary told IANS.

The northeastern states had also supposedly asked for the slot of Joint Secretary, but they have been asked to take a slot in the Apex Council for now.

It will also be interesting to see how the Supreme Court decides to act on the BCCI Electoral Officer’s decision to disqualify eight full members of the board as they were not fully compliant with the newly registered constitution of the BCCI.

“We are approaching the SC on Monday. Basically, the recommendation by the CoA was sent to the Electoral Officer and the Amicus Curiae. Since the officer has said that we are not qualified, we will go to the court. That is the only option left because the court allowed us to conduct the elections and said the disqualification didn’t apply to the Apex Council members which is what has been incorporated,” an official of the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) had told IANS.