SC makes BCCI accept Lodha reforms: Here's how the Indian cricket fraternity reacted

Indian cricket witnessed what could possibly turn out to be one of its most historic moments on Monday as the Supreme Court gave its nod to the recommendations by the Lodha Panel on the functioning of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). According to the verdict, no minister or government official can be an office-bearer of the national cricketing body, in a major setback to the BCCI, while it also accepted the Lodha Committee recommendation of one state-one vote for representation at the BCCI. The apex court however left the decision of bringing the BCCI under the RTI as well as the legalisation of betting to the Parliament. The Indian board has been given six months time to implement the recommendations. Among the other things recommended by the panel was the formation of a player’s association in the BCCI. [caption id=“attachment_2377252” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File picture of BCCI logo. Reuters[/caption] Retired Justice Lodha, who along with his panel will be overseeing the transition in the BCCI, marked it as “a great day for Indian cricket.” “It’s a great day for Indian cricket. I am sure BCCI will implement the recommendations at the earliest. BCCI has no transparency, no accountability. Same persons are running the board for decades,” Lodha was quoted as saying according to a report on NDTV Sports . “If 70-year-old people are running BCCI, how will young administrators get the chance? Having no ministers in BCCI will help as they have more important thing to do. Cricket is full-time job,” added Lodha in the report. Senior BCCI functionary and Indian Premier League (IPL) chairman Rajeev Shukla said that the BCCI respected the SC’s decision. “We respect SC’s decision. Will look into how we can implement the Lodha panel recommendations,” Shukla was quoted as saying after the verdict. With the apex court mandating only one post per administrator in Indian cricket, BCCI secretary and Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) President Ajay Shirke has made it clear that it is the former who need him more, and that he will relinquish his post in the state association. “I feel at this juncture, the board (BCCI) needs me more than my state association. I am a person who will not run away from my responsibilities unless the members ask me to do so,” Shirke was quoted as saying to PTI. The verdict, which put an age cap on the officials at 70, meant the end of the road for septuagenarians such as Sharad Pawar, N Srinivasan and Niranjan Shah. Shah, who has been at the helm of Saurashtra Cricket Association (SCA) and has also served the BCCI in various capacities for over three decades, was not exactly pleased at the outcome of the verdict. “Yes, I am very disappointed but this is the verdict of the apex court of the country, which will have to respect,” said Shah. Union sports minister Vijay Goel remarked that the ball was in BCCI’s court, and that it was upto them to implement the recommendations. “The ball is in BCCI’s court. Implementation has to be done by BCCI. BCCI needs to take note of the Supreme Court order and Lodha committee report. As far as I am concerned, all I want is transparency in sports,” said Goel. The Indian cricket fraternity was largely welcoming in its approach towards the verdict, with former cricketers and anti-corruption crusaders Bishan Singh Bedi and Kirti Azad taking to Twitter to welcome the verdict.  

Eminent sports presenter Harsha Bhogle made his thoughts public on the various implementations by the panel including ‘one-state, one-vote’.  

Veteran journalist Ayaz Memon commented on the one recommendation that the SC did not accept, which was that of not airing any commercials in between overs.  

The apex court’s verdict could affect some of the most high profile BCCI officials including current president Anurag Thakur, who also heads the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA). The incident that triggered the formation of the Lodha panel was the 2013 betting and spot-fixing scandal, which led to the ouster of IPL franchises Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) for a period of two years.