Former Indian cricket captain Sourav Ganguly emerged as the consensus candidate to become Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)'s new President. This came amid dramatic turn of events after Brijesh Patel appeared to have grabbed the coveted post.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah's son Jay Shah will be the new secretary while Arun Dhumal will be the new treasurer. Dhumal is the younger brother of Minister of State (MoS) Finance and former BCCI president Anurag Thakur.
The last day of filing nominations in on October 14. However, no election will be held as all candidates have emerged unopposed after weeks hectic parleys.
Ganguly (47) who is currently the President of Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB). He will have to demit this position in September 2020 as he will go into compulsory cooling off period.
Brijesh, backed by Tamil Nadu cricket’s strongman N Srinivasan, emerged presidential candidate when Ganguly remained non-committal on campaigning for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections, according to a report by news agency PTI.
However, when most of the state units opposed the 'understanding', things changed dramatically.
"Yes, Brijesh was running for the President's post with N Srinivasan actively lobbying for him. However, there was stiff resistance against him. We are happy Sourav is the new President," a senior official from North East affiliated unit, told PTI.
The choice for President's post was always between Ganguly and Patel and the former was finally accepted as an unanimous candidate. Patel could become Indian Premier League (IPL) Chairman.
When the new office bearers assume office, it will end a 33-month term of the Committee of Administrators, which called shots in running the cricket affairs in country post Lodha Committee reforms.
Former India coach Anhsuman Gaekwad beat Kirti Azad to be elected as male ICA representative on BCCI's nine-member Apex Council. Shanta Rangaswamy was earlier elected unopposed as female ICA representative.
(With inputs from PTI)
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