BCCI elections: Will Sourav Ganguly and Brijesh Patel get the nod?

Sourav Ganguly and Brijesh Patel are in the running for key posts in the BCCI with the disqualification rule eliminating some from the electoral roll.

Sourav Ganguly has been the chairman of the BCCI technical committee and would bring experience to the role if he gets the nod.

The Lodha Panel recommended a compact governance structure in the form of a nine-member apex council consisting of six full members of the BCCI, a male and female cricketer elected by the player association and one representative of the CAG office. The panel felt that the working committee, that virtually ran the show like a fiefdom with power concentrated with a few individuals who switched posts over a period of time.

The BCCI's first apex council will come into place on October 23, when five office-bearers (president, vice-president, secretary, joint-secretary, treasurer) and one representative among the members present at the AGM would be elected by the 30 eligible representatives of their respective states.

With the disqualification rule eliminating some from the electoral roll, there are only a very few experienced candidates in the basket like Brijesh Patel and Sourav Ganguly. Both the former India cricketers are in the running for key posts in the BCCI.

Read: State units to meet on Oct 13 to decide names of office-bearers

Ganguly is the second-time president of the Cricket Association of Bengal, and would bring vast experience as a player, captain, and then as a coach-mentor. He was the chairman of the BCCI technical committee and has been a media personality for many years.

Karnataka's Patel has been an administrator for a few generations. He has had run-ins with a few well-known cricketers from his state. He was close to the late BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya and thereafter with the former BCCI president N. Srinivasan. What ought to count in his favour is his cricketing background and also his acumen as a businessman.

Ganguly was recently caught in the vortex of conflict issues, wearing different hats that went against the BCCI constitution. Should he give up all his cricket-related interests that brings him money, he could be the ideal candidate for the top post. And Patel, well into his 60s, could hold the secretary's post. As of now Ganguly has a limited time though and would run into a three-year cooling off period in less than a year's time.

The other aspirants are Gujarat's Jay Shah, son of union home minister, Amit Shah, Delhi's Rajat Sharma of India TV and Arun Singh Dhumal, president of Himachal.Pradesh Cricket Association. There will be new faces too.

The BCCI members will meet here on Sunday to chalk out the shape of their segment in the apex council. The North East block is expected to make its presence in the BCCI's governing body.

Nominations for the six posts to the apex council and two seats in the IPL governing council opened on Friday and will close on Monday. The initial list of candidates will be announced on Tuesday and the final list on Wednesday, a day when everyone will come to know if election would take place at all on October 23.