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 majority of his Apex Council members new to BCCI administration, Ganguly certainly has a challenging job in hand.
As the new team takes charge on Wednesday, here is all 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 (CAB) 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 2003 World Cup before it went down to Australia. After retiring from cricket in 2008, he was also part of the IPL governing council and was the head of the BCCI’s technical committee. Ganguly’s term as the Board president will get over in July-August, next year and he will have to go for a mandatory cooling-off period.
Mahim Verma, Vice-president
PC 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, PC Verma’s son, Mahim, is set to play a big role in BCCI politics.
Only being appointed as the secretary of the Cricket Association of Uttarakhand, Mahim doesn’t have too much experience in cricket administration and this certainly will be a big challenge for him.
Jay Shah, Secretary
Son of Union home minister, Amit Shah, Jay has been the joint secretary of Gujarat Cricket Association (GCA) 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 AGM, 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 has much time at the BCCI as he will serve the apex council for less than a year, before going into the mandatory cooling off period.
Arun Singh Dhumal, Treasurer
The younger brother of former BCCI chief and current MoS, Finance, Anurag Thakur, Dhumal was appointed the head of the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) last month.
After a decade and a half, HPCA got 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 Chhattisgarh Cricket Sangh president Baldeo Singh Bhatia, Prabhtej 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 ICA representatives in the apex council.
IPL Governing Council
Brijesh Patel
A former India player, Patel has previously served as chief of Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA). He played a key role in developing infrastructure in the state by coming up with multiple grounds.
He even introduced the Karnataka Premier League. A close ally of N. Srinivasan, he nearly missed out on becoming the BCCI president but has been chosen as the Governing Council Member for IPL.
Khairul Jamal Majumdar
Better known as Mamon in Northeast cricketing circles, 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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