Spotlight shifts to BCCI's AGM

Mumbai: This would be some weekend for the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The focus has shifted to Bangalore, and it is not merely the first one-day game between Indian and Australia that has roused interest.

On September 29, the BCCI’s high-powered coach-selection panel will meet in Bangalore to short list some of the 20 candidates that have applied for the position. Prior to that the Board members will convene on September 28 at the BCCI’s headquarters in Mumbai for the Annual General Meeting.

At Friday’s AGM, the Board, apart from setting up the sub-committees, will ratify a decision on the National Cricket Academy’s (NCA) chairman. Ajay Shirke was appointed the interim chairman after Kapil Dev fell into disfavour with the board following his allegiance to the Indian Cricket League (ICL).

The ongoing strife between the cricket associations of Bihar and Jharkhand is a major worry for the Board at the moment, and the issue could be high on the AGM's agenda. We may recall that the Bihar Cricket Association (BCA) regained its affiliation with the BCCI last year. The Board disaffiliated the BCA in 2000 citing poor cricket infrastructure.

In 2006, the Board’s Special Body merged the cricket associations of Bihar and Jharkand under the banner of the BCA. However, the decision did not travel well with the Jharkand Cricket Association, and its members insisted on a separate representation in the AGM.

Last September, the High Court ruled in favour of Jharkhand Cricket Board allowing the body to vote in the BCCI's AGM. The BCCI challenged the order in the apex court which allowed both Bihar and Jharkhand to participate in the Board’s elections.

The Supreme Court has granted the BCCI four months to resolve the ongoing dispute, failing which the SC will issue its own verdict on the matter.

Among the other issues, it is highly unlikely that the BCCI will deliberate the application from the Cricket Association of Pondicherry (CAP) for associate membership.

A significant announcement could be made on who will take over from Sharad Pawar as the Board’s president for a full three-year tenure. Pawar will have to take up office as president of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 2011 after David Morgan of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) completes his term.

Reports have already filtered in that BCCI Vice-President Shashank Manohar has been recommended for the position, although no official announcement has been made on this count.

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