The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) finds itself on a sticky wicket over its decision to hold its Annual General Meeting at the Cricket Centre here on Wednesday.
On one hand are the Lodha Committee’s guidelines which they are expected to adhere to while on the other is the board’s keenness to go about its business.
The Lodha Committee, mandated by the Supreme Court, had on August 31 directed the board to limit its AGM to “routine business concerning the past year (2015-2016), and that any business or matters relating to the next year (2016-2017) be dealt with only after the adoption of the MoA and Rules as per the recommendations of the Committee in accordance with the same.”
Assurance
The BCCI, in its response to the Lodha Committee, has assured the three-member panel of retired Supreme Court judges that the Board will not do anything which “does not have the sanction of law”.
“The Board is not likely to transact any other business in its AGM which is unauthorised except which it is legally bound to do so,” a BCCI source said.
{{/usCountry}}“The Board is not likely to transact any other business in its AGM which is unauthorised except which it is legally bound to do so,” a BCCI source said.
{{/usCountry}}The agenda for the AGM mentions the election of the secretary, appointment of the Working Committee, Standing Committee and Special Committee for 2016-17, appointment of the ombudsman and the Board’s representative for the ICC and Asian Cricket Council conferences.
Current BCCI secretary Ajay Shirke is set to be re-elected unopposed. The Maharashtra Cricket Association chief was appointed secretary after Anurag Thakur took over as president of the Indian cricket board earlier this year.
It is learnt the BCCI is also keen to appoint the national selectors for the senior, junior and women’s teams at the AGM. The last set of interviews for selectors took place on Tuesday in Mumbai.
Plenty of applicants
Ninety-four people applied for the selectors’ post out of which 70-odd were called for interview.
However, the BCCI is going to take the permission of the house in the AGM before making any appointments. “We will ask the members. If they feel we should go ahead with the appointments then we shall do it,” said a senior board member.
The BCCI has expressed displeasure to the Lodha Committee over media reports quoting comments by sources close to the panel. The BCCI has urged the Lodha panel to investigate the source of the informal media briefings and initiate necessary action.
A source close to the panel was quoted as saying on Sunday that the BCCI should stick to the Lodha panel’s instructions.
“We have already instructed them as recorded in the minutes of August 28 that the meeting be restricted to formal events of the past and nothing regarding the future. If they transgress that, then it will be a different matter,” the source said.