CHENNAI : Elections in state units are complete, names of representatives to attend the October 23 BCCI annual general meeting have been submitted. The approved electoral roll will be out on October 10. For three days after that, nominations will be received from candidates vying for the five posts of office-bearers in the BCCI.
While the members are trying to work a way wherein elections are not required and the office-bearers can be elected unanimously, there is no clarity over the president’s post. Names of Sourav Ganguly (Bengal), Jay Shah (Gujarat), Rajat Sharma (Delhi) are doing the rounds. But the first two are due for a three-year cooling-off break starting in 2020. Sharma is not an unanimous choice yet. Other names are likely to emerge in the next few days.
If the state units are on the same page over anything, it’s the secretary’s post. Members from different zones are saying Brijesh Patel fits the bill. The former India batsman, who has served as secretary of Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) for more than nine years, is eligible for a BCCI post under new rules. He has taken the cooling-off break too. At 66, he can be a BCCI office-bearer for at least one term of three years.
Although there are whispers that a criminal case pending against him at Bengaluru’s Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court with a hearing scheduled on November 8, Patel said this is not true. “There is no case against me. These are rumours. And my name may have been taken by members for the secretary’s post, nothing is final at this stage. We’ll know in a few days,” Patel said on Friday.
However, BCCI members think Patel is a suitable man. “He is experienced as an administrator. There are not many eligible at the moment because of the new rules. Considering his familiarity with the BCCI set-up, he won’t be out of place in this role,” said a South Zone state unit office-bearer. Officials from other zones expressed similar opinion.
If talks of the court case don’t create problems, Patel has other advantages also. Having been part of the administrative mechanism as KSCA secretary for many years, he understands the political equations. More important, there are only a handful who are eligible and versed with the BCCI’s ways at the same time.
GCA sans president
The Gujarat Cricket Association remains without a president, after the last date for holding elections. Former joint secretary Jay Shah will represent the body at the BCCI AGM. At the elections in Mumbai and Rajasthan on Friday, Vijay Patil and Vaibhav Gehlot were elected presidents, respectively. The latter is the son of state chief minister Ashok Gehlot.