Manohar to take call on BCCI post after SC order

BCCI office bearers and senior members believe that BCCI chief Shashank Manohar will take a call on his position as BCCI president once the Supreme Court makes public its opinion with regard to the reforms in cricket, recommended by the Justice R. M. Lodha Committee.

The Supreme Court is likely to announe its verdict by mid-May.

BCCI office bearers and senior members believe that BCCI chief Shashank Manohar will take a call on his position as BCCI president once the Supreme Court makes public its opinion with regard to the reforms in cricket, recommended by the Justice R. M. Lodha Committee.

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Manohar is a frontrunner for the ICC chairman’s post with at least six full ICC Board member boards flying to Nagpur in the last two months and conveying their support to him and others also following suit. They have endorsed Manohar’s view to rebuff the amended governance structure of the ICC in 2014 (doing away with the big three in BCCI, ECB and Cricket Australia) and also his proposal to rework the disbursement of annual revenue to member countries.

BCCI's members also believe that Manohar will not stay for a minute as BCCI president should the Supreme Court rule in favour of the proposed one-State-one-vote rule, changing the edifice of the BCCI functioning by bringing in the Apex council consisting of BCCI office bearers and player association nominees (male and female) and a representative of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) office.

The changes will place restrictions on the tenure of office for office bearers, also removing the president from the IPL Governing Council and giving representatives of two franchises a place in the Council.

The Supreme Court has already heard the BCCI’s views on why it will be difficult for it to implement some of the Lodha Committee recommendations and also intervention applications from the Cricket Club of India (CCI), Mumbai Cricket Association, Punjab Cricket Association, Baroda Cricket Association and Tamil Nadu Cricket Association.

The court will hear the applications of cricket associations of Karnataka, Saurashtra, Niranjan Shah (former BCCI secretary) and sports promotion boards of Services and Railways. The court has also appointed senior advocate and former Solicitor General of India, Gopal Subramaniam as amicus curiae to look at the recommendations and find ways to implement it.

The BCCI expects an order before mid-May because the Supreme Court will go on a long summer vacation and also because Justice F. M. I. Kalifulla, who is hearing the case with Chief Justice of India Tirath Singh Thakur, is due to retire in July.