BCCI extends age cap to 65 for match officials, support staff

Earlier, the Board had set a 60-year cap on the retirement of the support staff associated with its teams and also the match officials.

Headed by president Sourav Ganguly, the meeting also decided to provide infrastructure development of the Northeast states, Puducherry, Bihar and Uttarakhand.

In its Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Kolkata on Saturday, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) stated that the match officials and the support staff can now retire at 65, subject to fitness.

Earlier, the Board had set a 60-year cap on the retirement of the support staff associated with its teams and also the match officials, but in the meeting, the Board decided to revise the age cap in a bid to give a ‘service extension’ to the coaches and the match officials affiliated to the Board.

Headed by president Sourav Ganguly, the meeting also decided to provide infrastructure development of the Northeast states, Puducherry, Bihar and Uttarakhand. While the proposed indoor facility for the Northeast states was sanctioned, the Board also informed the members that the Northeast states and the three other teams - which came into the scene in 2018 - will be given a grant of Rs 10 crore each in a phased manner for the development of the game in the region.

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It was also decided that the Ombudsman and the ethics officer will be finalised soon, once it is approved by the Apex Council.

Among other developments, the Board formed the Tours, Fixtures and Technical committee, an umpires committee and a committee for the differently-abled cricketers.

Updates on India’s show in T20 World Cup

The members were also apprised of India’s performance in the T20 World Cup. “The president stated that even though India was a good team, we could not perform as per expectations. But he was hopeful that the team will do better in the future events,” a state association official, who attended the meeting, said.

Under Virat Kohli’s captaincy, the Indian team failed to make it to the playoffs after losing to Pakistan and New Zealand in the group league fixtures.

IPL matters

While the Board decided to wait for the committee report before deciding on the fate of CVC Sports, which acquired the Ahmedabad franchise of the Indian Premier League, several state units requested the Board to allot matches beyond the designated eight venues. “The president and secretary said, they will look into it and take a call closer to the tournament,” a member said.

As expected, Brijesh Patel and Khairul Jamal Majumdar were re-elected unopposed as the members of the IPL Governing Council, along with Pragyan Ojha - who represents the ICA.