One of the clear messages that Monday’s Supreme Court’s verdict, which displaced the top brass of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, carries to State associations is that either fall in line or face the sack. Since the SC order, more than one State body has already gone on record that they will have to implement the Lodha Committee recommendations in the shape and spirit the apex court approved it. As a result, many heads are going to roll.
The eligibility criteria set by the Lodha panel will end the administrative careers of heavyweights such as N Srinivasan, Niranjan Shah and Sharad Pawar — all three are above 70, the age limit set for holding an office. The cap on number of terms (three terms of three years each with a three-year cooling-off period between each tenure) means the likes of Brijesh Patel can no longer be part of the Karnataka State Cricket Association.
The former India batsman has completed his fifth term as the secretary of the KSCA, amounting to a cumulative period of 15 years. KSCA, however, sought time to react to the development. “We would first like to go through the judgement copy,” said association spokesman Vinay Mruthyunjaya. “We have to see if the verdict is applicable to state units with immediate effect. “If that’s the case, then obviously we have to conduct elections based on Lodha recommendations.”
However, Brijesh, who has not held any office in the BCCI so far is eligible to take up a position in the Apex Council of the parent body. At 64, he has age on his side and being one of the longest-serving administrators in the country, he is one of the prime contenders to assume one of the top two posts in the BCCI. Cricket Association of Bengal president Sourav Ganguly is another candidate who is strongly tipped to take over as the next BCCI boss when the elections are held.
The cooling-off clause goes against the present regime at the KSCA as they head into fresh elections under the Lodha panel’s Memorandum of Association rules. KSCA president, PR Ashok Anand’s future as administrator is over as the former Karnataka batsman is 75 years old. Similarly, vice-presidents Sudhakar Rao and Sanjay Desai and treasurer Dayanand Pai will be ineligible to contest for more than one reason, the most obvious being the cooling-off rule.
Published 02 January 2017, 19:31 IST