CHENNAI : Bid to reclaim lost ground in the ICC underway, the BCCI will also be looking at having representatives in the important committees, other than a bigger share of the world body’s revenue. At present, Indian presence in these committees is negligible.In a recent meeting with cricket officials from boards of England, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa in Mumbai, the BCCI officials have had favourable discussions with regards to protecting the financial interests of each of the boards. Simultaneously, they have explained them the importance of having BCCI representatives in the committees.
“It’s something that everyone understands. Considering the stature and position of our board in the world of cricket, the BCCI ought to have a bigger voice in the ICC. Framing policies or taking important decisions can’t happen without the BCCI having a say in it. In the present scenario, that is not happening. The other boards also realise it,” said a BCCI official.
Other than the Board of Directors and Executive Board which have representatives from each of the 12 full members, the ICC has 13 other committees. With the exception of player representatives like Anil Kumble (cricket committee), Saba Karim and Mithali Raj (both women’s committee), there is nobody from BCCI in any of these. Members to these committees are not elected, but nominated by the ICC top brass headed by chairman Shashank Manohar.
Talks are not final yet, but this is something that the BCCI wants to change. They may ask for a place in the Finance and Commercial Affairs Committee headed currently by Pakistan’s Ehsan Mani. There are talks of having a bigger presence across the committees as well.“We don’t have to say where we should belong. The member boards of the ICC know the BCCI’s position and its importance. They themselves are of the opinion that we should be there. It didn’t happen because of the problems we were facing in the last few years. Now that we are back normal, the process has started. Things will start taking shape soon,” added the official.
The ICC has a quarterly meeting coming up in March, which will be followed by the annual conference in June. The BCCI is still to finalise who will represent it in the meeting in March, but it does have plans for June. That’s when Manohar’s term ends and he is unlikely to seek re-election. Some of the committees will also be revamped. Going by early indications, the BCCI will have names to propose to fill up big voids.
Ganguly mum on Dhoni omission
KOLKATA: BCCI president Sourav Ganguly on Friday refused to comment on former captain MS Dhoni’s omission from annual central contract list amid fresh speculation on the future of the World Cup winning former captain. While Dhoni has been left out due for not playing any cricket for six months, it can’t be ruled out that he can still be in the mix as far as World T20 in Australia is concerned. “I can’t comment on this,” Ganguly said in his straightforward response on Dhoni’s omission from the BCCI’s annual player retainership for 2019-20.