Lodha committee set to propose major overhaul in BCCI

The panel, headed by former Chief Justice of India R M Lodha, is likely to recommend at least two radical reforms in their report to the Supreme Court on January 4, as per a report in the Times of India (ToI).

"The recommendation of the committee will reflect the majority view. The recommendation on this score could spell doom for most non-cricketers, especially politicians, who routinely get themselves elected as heads of the state affiliates and have a say in the allotment of matches to venues. If the politician is powerful, his state affiliate invariably got prime matches in a tournament conducted by the BCCI," a source quoted them as having said, reported ToI.

The panel is likely to recommend changing the BCCI’s character from a society to public trust or to a company to allow more transparency and public scrutiny in its day-to-day functioning. The BCCI came into existence in 1928 as an unregistered association of persons, and it was registered under the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act, 1975.

The Supreme Court-appointed committee could also bar industrialists and politicians from getting into the management of the Board unless they had a career in cricket, reported ToI.

The panel is also likely to propose a policy of 'one association per state'. If the rule comes into existence, then Maharashtra (which has three teams in Mumbai, Vidarbha and Maharashtra) and Gujarat (Saurashtra, Baroda and Gujarat) will be hit hardest.

Another recommendation of the panel is likely to stop BCCI officials from holding positions in state associations.

As per ToI, the BCCI is planning to vehemently resist the proposals of the Lodha committee, which they consider to be “destroying the history of BCCI and would damage the very existence of the game in this country.”