What if SC scraps BCCI top brass? Ex-players could be asked to take charge

If BCCI office bearers are asked to step down, the Supreme Court might appoint an ad-hoc committee that will ensure the Lodha Committee recommendations are implemented in its entirety.

Should the Supreme Court decide in favour of scrapping the top brass of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), there might be another rerun of the events in 2014 when the cricket body had to do with an interim president in Shivlal Yadav after N Srinivasan was asked to step down. Yadav, the then most senior vice-president, was forwarded by the BCCI as its pick. The Court, however, had appointed Sunil Gavaskar as the chief of the IPL after the corruption and conflict of interest cases plagued the T20 league.

According to the BCCI constitution, one needs to attend at least two AGMs to be eligible for an office bearer post. (Reuters)

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Something similar could happen again. If BCCI office bearers -- president Anurag Thakur, secretary Ajay Shirke, treasurer Anirudh Chaudhry and joint-secretary Amitabh Choudhary -- are asked to step down, the Supreme Court might appoint an ad-hoc committee that will ensure the Lodha Committee recommendations are implemented in its entirety. While there is a possibility that a former judge could be appointed as a legal advisor, the ad-hoc committee itself could comprise only of former players.

Since the BCCI already has in place a Cricket Advisory Committee comprising Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman and Sachin Tendulkar, there could be a possibility that the Court could ask this committee to take over a larger role. If that’s the recourse taken by the Supreme Court, Ganguly could feature heavily in BCCI’s reformation plans. Also, being president of the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) for a year now, he has the administrative experience.

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According to the BCCI constitution, one needs to attend at least two AGMs to be eligible for an office bearer post but since the scenario will change if the Supreme Court takes over, the nitty-gritty won’t matter.

What might also be discussed is the role of the five zonal vice-presidents. In its report, the Lodha Committee had lashed out at the system of having zonal representatives, calling the vice-presidents ‘merely ornamental without any specific functions’. The SC could wield the axe if the court is unsatisfied about the roles they play.

Also in focus would be the first meeting of the new selection committee on Thursday to pick the one-day squad for the New Zealand series. By not adhering to the Lodha Committee’s recommendation of pruning the five-member selection panel to three, the BCCI has made its case worse. It remains to be seen if the decisions taken by the new selection committee will have any standing should the Supreme Court go for wholesale changes.