BCCI vs Lodha: Who could replace Anurag Thakur? Here’s a look at the five vice-presidents

With the Supreme Court removing Anurag Thakur and Ajay Shirke as president and secretary respectively, the BCCI is in a leadership crisis over who to nominate among its five vice-presidents as the acting chief of the beleaguered cricket body. At the moment, the richest sports body in the world is considering the five VPs for the top post, in addition to other names l ike former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly. [caption id=“attachment_3157890” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  The SC came down hard on BCCI president Anurag Thakur (L). PTI[/caption] The BCCI has five vice-presidents currently: ML Nehru (North Zone), G Gangaraju (South), Gautam Roy (East), TC Mathew (West) and CK Khanna (Central). Veteran Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) official Khanna, who is vice-president from Central Zone and VP for third time, is the senior most of them. Rahul Johri, who has been Chief Executive Officer at the BCCI, is most likely to look after the day to day functioning of the BCCI following the apex court’s order. Johri has previously served as Discovery Networks Asia Pacific’s executive vice-president and general manager for South Asia. He was appointed as the CEO under controversial circumstances as the secretary of the BCCI generally functions as the body’s CEO. Following his induction on 1 June he was to look after the “smooth functioning of operations, stakeholder management and building robust strategies for promoting of sport.” With the impending decision to announce Thakur’s successor, most likely pegged for 19 January, it would be a good time to take a closer look at the five vice presidents: Gautam Roy: He is currently in his second term as vice-president and has been the Assam Cricket Association president from early 2000 to 2015. His record, however, is not clean and Delloitte’s internal report about Assam had been adverse under Roy’s leadership. But since Roy has been part of his respective state association for more than a decade, he will have to go into the Lodha-mandated cooling-off period, essentially negating his chances. ML Nehru: He is currently the BCCI vice-president of the north zone and the general secretary of Dr Farooq Abdullah faction of J&K Cricket Association (JKCA). However, he might be ruled out of contention as he is reported to be in the process of vacating both his positions following the Supreme Court order. The association has since welcomed the decision and has said that they will follow all the guidelines issued by the apex court, essentially making his chances of succeeding Thakur next to none. G Gangaraju: Rattled after the Supreme Court decision, the Board’s south zone senior vice president Gokaraju Gangaraju made it clear that his association Andhra CA will implement the Lodha reforms with immediate effect. “There is no confusion as Supreme Court has passed it’s verdict. As the president of Andhra Cricket Association we would implement Lodha reforms in totality with immediate effect. If it means that we have to go into cooling off period, so be it. Indian cricket should move forward,” Ganga Raju told PTI. Speculation is rife that he might be in line for the interim president’s post. TC Mathew: The west zone vice-president of the BCCI had resigned from his post on Monday following the apex court’s decision, but he is still the frontrunner, along with Johri, to run the day to day affairs of the board, according to a report by The  Hindu. The 52-year-old advocate made it clear that he need not have resigned as the KCA president. “Its implementation is at the BCCI-level, not at the State-level. And at the State-level, I need not resign but I thought it is proper for me to take a break. And that’s why I resigned. It is applicable for those who have cumulatively completed nine years in the BCCI, that’s what the verdict says. So, based on that, I could have continued in the KCA," he said. CK Khanna: The Supreme Court had entrusted the senior-most vice-president of the BCCI to run its affairs. Khanna, being the senior most, should be the clear pick. However, the observer for DDCA Retd Justice Mukul Mudgal, in a scathing report submitted to Delhi HC, termed Khanna as a “pernicious influence”. It is unlikely that Fali S Nariman and Gopal Subramanium won’t take into cognisance the observations of Justice Mudgal. With inputs from PTI