The BCCI’s 93rd Annual General Body Meeting (AGM) will take place here on September 29, but it is unlikely that the election of the new board secretary will take place at the high-profile summit. However, the AGM will coincide with the inauguration of the state-of-the-art National Cricket Academy (NCA) centre in the outskirts as all the board members will be present in the city. Currently, the NCA functions at the M Chinnaswamy stadium premises since its inception over two decades back.

While the new BCCI secretary will not be elected at the AGM, the date for the Special General Meeting (SGM) for that purpose could be fixed here.

The appointment of a new secretary was made mandatory after the incumbent Jay Shah was elected unanimously as the ICC Chairman.

However, Shah will not abdicate his present role as the BCCI secretary at the AGM because he has to assume the new office only from December 1.

The other important point in the meeting’s 18-point agenda, which has been sent to all the state associations, is the appointment of BCCI’s representative to the ICC meetings, as Shah will no longer be available for that role.

The name of current BCCI president Roger Binny might be discussed for the board’s representative to the ICC, or it could fall on the incoming secretary.

But at 69, Binny does not have age on his side with 70 being the upper ceiling to be in administration.

Other than those two pressing matters, the AGM will also see the induction of two representatives of the general body in the IPL Governing Council and the induction of one representative from the Indian Cricketers’ Association (ICA) in the IPL Governing Council.

The AGM will also include some regular board activities such as ratification of the annual budget for 2024-25 and the appointment of Ombudsman and Ethics Officer.

The meeting will appoint a Cricket Committee and Standing Committee as per the BCCI Constitution, along with the formation of a new Umpires Committee under Rule 27.

The AGM will also consider the ‘Report of the Internal Committee of BCCI formed under Prevention of Sexual Harassment Policy’, besides approving rules formed by the Apex Council pertaining to domestic cricket.

Current ICC chairman Greg Barclay on Tuesday opted out of a third term following the end of his tenure on November 30, fuelling speculations on BCCI secretary Jay Shah’s future at the sport’s governing body. Whether Shah will be interested to throw his hat in the ring will be clear by August 27, the last date for filing nominations for the chairman’s post. An ICC chairman is eligible for three terms of two years each and Barclay, a New Zealand-based attorney, has so far completed four years.

“ICC Chair Greg Barclay confirmed to the Board that he will not stand for a third term and will step down from the post when his current tenure finishes at the end of November. Barclay was appointed as the Independent ICC Chair in November 2020, before being re-elected in 2022,” the ICC stated in a media release.

As per ICC rules, the chairman’s election comprises of 16 votes and now a simple majority of nine votes is required (51%) for the winner. Earlier, to become the chairman, the incumbent needed to have two-third majority.

“Current directors are now required to put forward nominations for the next Chair by 27 August 2024 and if there is more than one candidate, an election will be held with the term of the new Chair commencing on 1 December 2024.” Shah is considered as one of the most influential faces in the ICC board room. He is currently the head of ICC’s all-powerful Finance and Commercial Affairs (F&CA) sub-committee.

He enjoys a lot of goodwill with most of the 16 voting members. Currently, Shah has another one year left as the BCCI secretary before going on a mandatory cooling off period of three years from October, 2025.

As per the BCCI constitution approved by the Supreme Court, an office bearer can stay for six before he needs to go for a cooling off of three years. In all, a person can stay in office for a cumulative period of 18 years, — nine in state association and nine in BCCI.

If Shah decides to move to ICC with a year of his secretaryship still left, he will have four years left in the BCCI.

At 35, he could be youngest chairman in the history of ICC.

Jagmohan Dalmiya, Sharad Pawar, N Srinivasan and Shashank Manohar are the Indians who have headed the ICC in the past.

File photo of India coach Gautam Gambhir and BCCI secretary Jay Shah© BCCI

The Union Health Ministry has urged the BCCI and the Sports Authority of India to take measures to prevent surrogate advertisements of tobacco and alcohol by sportspersons, saying they are role models for millions of youth not only in the country but across the world. In a letter to Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) President Roger Binny and DG of SAI Sandip Pradhan, Director General of Health Services (DGHS) Dr Atul Goel on Thursday said that sportspersons, specially cricketers, are role models for youngsters for promoting a healthy, active and productive lifestyle.

“The BCCI is entrusted with objectives of laying down policies, roadmap, guidelines for promotion of the game of cricket (and its governance) keeping in mind the players and cricket fans of India…and it is disheartening to see surrogate advertisements of tobacco and/or alcohol related products by some of the well-known cricketers and also famous actors during cricketing events such as IPL,” Goel said.

“Taking a considerate view of the issue, the BCCI may take positive measures to prevent these surrogate advertisement of tobacco and/ or alcohol related products by sportspersons,” he stated.

The DGHS suggested measures such as signing an anti-tobacco ‘Declaration of Interest’ form, not promote/advertise in stadiums or events hosted or partnered by BCCI and issuing directive(s) to sportspersons under BCCI’s ambit to refrain from surrogate promotion/partnership/advertisement of tobacco and related products.

“Also, it is hereby requested not to allow such surrogate advertisements by other celebrities in sporting events of BCCI, such as the IPL. I hope you will appreciate that celebrities engaging in these surrogate advertisements are followed as role models by millions of youth not only within the country but across the world,” Goel said.

Such measures shall not only help in reducing the consumption of tobacco especially amongst youth but also reinforce a positive image of sportspersons as advocates of health and fitness and continue to uphold the highest standards of integrity and responsibility in sports, he said.

The DGHS said that tobacco use is the one risk factor common to the four main groups of non-communicable diseases — cardiovascular disease, cancer, chronic lung disease and diabetes.

India ranks second in tobacco-related deaths worldwide, with nearly 13.5 lakhs preventable deaths recorded each year. Also, tobacco related cancer constitutes 33 per cent of all cancer cases in India with almost 50 per cent in males and 17 per cent in females being attributed to tobacco.

Various surveys have found that the age of initiation for tobacco consumption in India is as low as seven years, Goel said in the letter.

To address the issue of tobacco control, the government of India launched the National Tobacco Control Programme (NTCP) in 2007-08 with an aim to create awareness about the harmful effects of tobacco consumption, to reduce the production and supply of tobacco products and ensure effective implementation of the provisions under the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA), 2003 and the Prohibition of Electronic Cigarette Act (PECA), 2019.

It also aims to help people quit tobacco use, and facilitate implementation of strategies for prevention and control of tobacco advocated by WHO Framework Convention of Tobacco Control.

New Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir has admitted that the retirement of stalwarts is a natural thing, and that the team will have to adapt to transition phases. Gambhir’s arrival as coach was preceded by the retirement of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Ravindra Jadeja from T20Is, following India’s 2024 T20 World Cup victory. Asked whether Gambhir instead encouraged players to be versatile enough for different formats, and emphasised on being consistent in their selection across formats.

“Eventually going forward these things happen. But can’t say right now that there are going to be three different teams,” said Gambhir, speaking in a press conference for the first time since being appointed as India’s head coach.

“I think we will go through a transition in T20s, because Virat (Kohli), Rohit (Sharma) and Ravindra (Jadeja) are not there,” he said.

“In 50 overs and Test cricket, the more consistent we can be the better. The more players that can play both formats, the better for the team,” said Gambhir.

Chief selector Agarkar backed up Gambhir’s statement: “You don’t decide on three different teams.”

“Just to try and find the best balance depending on the format you’re player, be it the same players or different. Nothing is pre-decided. Eventually you try and pick the best 15,” stated Agarkar.

The speculation about three different teams comes after notable differences in the T20I and ODI squads picked for India’s tour to Sri Lanka. In particular, T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav was not included in the ODI setup.

No Surya in ODIs

Agarkar admitted that Suryakumar Yadav was not even discussed for ODIs, with the return of KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer.

“Shreyas is back, KL is back, they had great World Cups. Rishabh is back as well. So there is some real quality through the middle order,” Agarkar said.

“At this point, Surya is a T20 player,” Agarkar said firmly.

India’s 3-match T20I and 3-match ODI tour to Sri Lanka begins from July 27.

Lok Sabha MP and cricket’s avid fan, Shashi Tharoor has lashed out at the BCCI’s selection committee for the squads picked for the upcoming Sri Lanka tour. The team selected by the board had some surprise exclusions that dragged the attention of Tharoor. He raised his voice against the omission of Sanju Samson from ODIs and Abhishek Sharma from T20Is. While Samson made it to the squad for the shortest format series against Sri Lanka, Abhishek — who scored a sensational century in the recently concluded five-match T20I series against Zimbabwe — was overlooked for the tour.

“Interesting squad selection for India’s tour of Sri Lanka later this month. @IamSanjuSamson , who hit a century in his last ODI, has not been picked for ODIs, while @IamAbhiSharma4, who hit a T20I century in the #INDvZIM series, has not been picked at all. Rarely has success in India colours mattered so little to the selectors! Good luck to the team anyway,” wrote Tharoor.

Interesting squad selection for India’s tour of Sri Lanka later this month. @IamSanjuSamson, who hit a century in his last ODI, has not been picked for ODIs, while @IamAbhiSharma4, who hit a T20I century in the #INDvZIM series, has not been picked at all. Rarely has success in… pic.twitter.com/PJU5JxSOx2

— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) July 18, 2024

Suryakumar Yadav has been appointed to lead the Indian team in T20Is against Sri Lanka while Shubman Gill has been named his deputy for the three-match series. Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have been named in the ODI squad for the tour with the former also captaining the side. Gill is the vice-captain in the ODI series as well.

India squads for Sri Lanka tour –

India’s T20I squad: Suryakumar Yadav (C), Shubman Gill (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rinku Singh, Riyan Parag, Rishabh Pant (WK), Sanju Samson (WK), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Khaleel Ahmed, Mohd. Siraj. 

India’s ODI squad: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill (VC), Virat Kohli, KL Rahul (WK), Rishabh Pant (WK), Shreyas Iyer, Shivam Dube, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, Riyan Parag, Axar Patel, Khaleel Ahmed, Harshit Rana.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) secretary Richard Gould has written to his counterpart, BCCI secretary Jay Shah, proposing to bring two national disability teams — one for visually impaired (blind) and one combined (physically challenged, intellectually challenged and hearing impaired) team — to help popularise the sport among the communities. Currently, in India, there is a Differently Abled Cricket Council of India (DCCI), which is a sub-committee of the BCCI but the Indian board independently doesn’t organise any tournaments.

There will be some discussions on the sidelines of the ICC Annual conference in Colombo where Gould is supposed to participate in the Chief Executives Meet.

“We propose boards operate two international teams — a blind XI as a standalone format and then a pan-disability format with squads consisting of deaf, intellectually impaired and physically disabled cricketers. We would be keen and willing to host the inaugural pan-disability tournament involving our five nations in 2025. The ICC are keen to show collective support for this approach to ensure any steps are member driven,” Gould wrote in a letter, also addressed to Cricket Australia CEO Nick Hockley, PCB COO Salman Naseer, and CSA CEO Phletsi Moseki. A copy of the letter is with PTI.

In fact, Gould has addressed that the “global disability cricket is unstructured, unregulated and often unsupported”.

“There are many different codes of disability cricket — blind, deaf, intellectual impairment and physical disability and there has been widespread lack of co-ordination and strategy that sits across all four.

“This has not been an area of sport we have collectively prioritised and although financial restraints are felt as prevalently now as ever, now is the time for us to come together to turbocharge the disability game,” Gould further wrote.

Currently there are 1.3 billion (130 crore) people with various disabilities living globally and Gould believes that it is an untapped market that needs to be reached.

It is learnt that Ravi Chauhan, the boss of DCCI, will be in Sri Lanka to take part in discussions as he has been the bridge between his committee and BCCI.

File photo of Indian cricket team.© AFP

File photo of Indian cricket team coach Gautam Gambhir© AFP

File photo of Rohit Sharma (left) and Babar Azam.© AFP