Amitabh Chaudhary sees ray of hope for BCCI as SC dismisses need for cooling off period

The Supreme Court's observations came as a ray of hope today for the embattled body, who has stated that its position against the contentious Lodha committee reform stands vindicated.

"The Honourable judges heard our plea and made observations which have filled us with positivity. I feel now our (him and treasurer Aniruddh Chaudhry's) position is vindicated," BCCI acting secretary Amitabh Chaudhary told PTI on Thursday. "We have to wait for the final order but I think there is a ray of hope for us that things will be in order. The Honourable court heard all our arguments on the objectionable clauses and we are grateful for that."

Asked whether the clause on cooling off period and the age-cap of 70 years would be done away with, Chaudhary, who has of late been having differences with the Committee of Administrators, sarcastically said, "Why don't you ask the CoA as to what they think about today's observations?"

In the draft constitution submitted to the court, the eligibility for becoming a national selector has been set at 20 first-class matches. If accepted, it would mean Jatin Paranjpe and Gagan Khoda, who were removed from the senior selection panel, might come back. They had been removed for not being Test cricketers. Paranjpe and Khoda have been paid their salary without any work as selectors could only be removed at the AGM. If the whole panel would be removed at the AGM, they won't make a comeback.