 "BCCI AGM: Discussions on secretary Jay Shah's successor gain momentum in meeting")
Members of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) who were present at the 93rd Annual General Meeting in Bengaluru on Sunday, requested incumbent secretary Jay Shah to expedite the process of appointing his successor to keep the transfer of power as smooth as possible.
Shah had been elected unopposed to the post of Independent Chair of the International Cricket Council (ICC) last month and will assume office for a three-year term starting 1 December. He thus will be expected to step down as BCCI secretary in the last week of November.
The appointment of Shah’s successor was not on the agenda for Sunday’s AGM, but those who attended the meeting were reportedly discussing the succession plan amongst themselves to keep the procedure open.
“It was a normal request to keep all due process in place at the earliest as there will be clarity for us. Also, we have some big events like the IPL auction coming up, so it should not be like we will be handling everything at one go,” a state association representative who attended the AGM told PTI.
As things stand now, Rohan Jaitley, president of Delhi and District Cricket Association, BCCI treasurer Ashish Shelar, joint secretary Devajit Saikia and Gujarat Cricket Association secretary Anil Patel are the candidates who are in the fray to succeed Shah, unless a dark horse emerges in the latter stages of the selection process.
Impact Shorts
View AllWith no secretary election on agenda, the primary focal point of the AGM was the nomination of two representatives of India to the ICC meetings.
Currently, Shah is BCCI’s representative on the ICC Board and IPL chairman Arun Dhumal is in the Chief Executives’ Committee.
The AGM entrusted the general body members to recommend two names soon for the posts – director and alternate director – as the ICC has also scheduled a conclave in Dubai right after the final of the upcoming Women’s T20 World Cup.
As PTI reported on Saturday, Dhumal and Avishek Dalmiya were elected to the IPL Governing Council as general body representatives with the former all set to continue as the league’s chairman at least till 2025.
Former Andhra cricketer, V Chamundeswarnath was nominated by the Indian Cricketers Association (ICA) as a player representative and was inducted into the IPL GC.
“The members of the general body also appreciated the efforts of the office bearers for the work undertaken with respect to the new National Cricket Academy campus, dubbed as the Centre of Excellence near the Bengaluru International Airport,” said the BCCI in a release.
Explained | All you need to know about facilities at BCCI's newly inaugurated Centre of Excellence
In that context, the AGM also featured the screening of a 17-minute-long tribute video to Shah, highlighting the strong services he rendered to Indian cricket in his role as the board’s secretary.
VVS Laxman, head of the Centre of Excellence, also lavished praise on Shah for his visionary effort to turn the project a reality.
“One person I would definitely want to single out is Jay because I have seen and I have been part of various meetings when he came here, interacted with the L&T (construction) team.
“The kind of timelines, the kind of deadlines he has put on them, and almost while empowering them, he made sure that all of them followed the timelines,” Laxman told a select gathering in Bengaluru on Sunday at the Centre of Excellence, which was inaugurated on Saturday in a closed-door ceremony.
I am delighted to announce the launch of the Centre of Excellence by @BCCI. The state-of-the-art facility features three world-class playing grounds, a swimming pool, a pavilion, and advanced training, recovery, and medical amenities. This initiative will help current and future… pic.twitter.com/Piudtr1AQN
— Jay Shah (@JayShah) September 29, 2024
Other than that the AGM ratified the annual budget for the 2024-25 season and the members unanimously resolved to maintain BCCI’s legal status as a society, an item which was originally not in the agenda of the meeting.
“The members further resolved that the tournaments of the BCCI, including the IPL, shall not be converted into a company,” the statement added.
With PTI inputs
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