As the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) enters a new era, with former India captain Sourav Ganguly as its president, it will also be a debut for a young and inexperienced Apex Council.
With 90 percent of his Apex Council members new to BCCI administration, ‘captain’ Ganguly certainly has a challenging job in hand.
The new panel took charge on October 23 and here’s what you need to know about the panelists…
Sourav Ganguly, president
A former India captain, Ganguly is not new to cricket administration. The 47-year-old has been the president of Cricket Association of Bengal since 2015, succeeding the late Jagmohan Dalmiya. He was part of the state association’s working committee in 2012-13 and assumed the joint secretary’s post in July 2014. Ganguly guided the Indian team to the final of the World Cup in 2003 where it went down to Australia. After retiring from cricket in 2008, he was also part of the Indian Premier League (IPL) governing council and was the head of the BCCI’s technical committee.
Ganguly’s term as board president will get over in July-August and he will have to go for a mandatory cooling-off period.
Mahim Verma, vice-president
P. C. Verma played a key role in putting Uttarakhand on the cricketing map, much before it became a separate state in 2000. However, factionalism saw turbulent times in Uttarakhand cricket, before warring bodies finally decided to patch up. Now, P. C. Verma’s son, Mahim, is set to play a big role in the BCCI. He was appointed the secretary of the Cricket Association of Uttarakhand in September this year, and doesn’t have too much experience in cricket administration.
Jay Shah, secretary
Son of Union home minister Amit Shah, Jay Shah has been the joint secretary of the Gujarat Cricket Association since 2013. However, with the Lodha Committee recommendations coming into effect, Jay did not seek re-election as the secretary of the Gujarat association. Being the representative of the state association in the BCCI annual general meeting, Jay is set to play a key role as the secretary of the board.
Jay’s term will end in the next one-and-a-half years before he goes for a cooling off.
Jayesh George, joint secretary
The 50-year-old George has been around for more than five years as a Kerala Cricket Association office-bearer. While he played a significant role in developing age-group cricket in Kerala, he doesn’t have much time at the BCCI as he will serve the apex council for less than a year, before going into the cooling off period.
Arun Singh Dhumal, treasurer
The younger brother of former BCCI chief and current Union minister of state for finance Anurag Thakur, Dhumal was appointed head of the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association recently in September. After a decade and a half, HPCA had a new president, even though it remained in the family. In the past, he has represented HPCA in various BCCI meetings. Now, he will start his new innings as the treasurer of the board.
Prabhtej Singh Bhatia, councillor
Son of former Chattisgarh Cricket Sangh president Baldeo Singh Bhatia, Prabhtej is still in his 20s and is probably the youngest member of the Apex Council. He runs the state association now and hopes to deliver the goods at the BCCI.
Former India cricketers Anshuman Gaekwad and Shanta Rangaswamy are the men’s and women’s Indian Cricketers' Association representatives in the Apex Council.
Brijesh Patel, IPL governing council
A former India player, Patel has previously served Karnataka State Cricket Association as the chief. He played a key role in developing infrastructure in the state by coming up with multiple playgrounds. He even introduced the Karnataka Premier League. A close ally of former BCCI president N. Srinivasan, Patel narrowly missed out on becoming the BCCI president but has been chosen as the governing council member for the IPL instead.
Khairul Jamal Majumdar
Better known as Mamon in the cricketing circles of the North-East, this is Majumdar’s debut in BCCI administration. He will be joined by former India international, Surinder Khanna — an ICA representative — in the IPL Governing Council.
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