Deep-rooted resistance to reforms remains in BCCI

The resistance to lodha panel reforms remains deep rooted in the BCCI with only state bodies of Vidarbha and Tripura implementing the Supreme Court approved reforms in toto, a source has claimed.

After removing Anurag Thakur and Ajay Shirke as BCCI president and secretary for obstructing the implementation of the lodha recommendations, the Supreme Court last month formed a four-member panel headed by former comptroller and auditor general Vinod Rai to run the day-to-day affairs of the cricket board as the matter is sub-judice.

"The state associations are playing the wait and watch game (how the matter unfolds further in the Supreme Court). The resistance is still very much there despite the ouster of the some senior BCCI office-bearers. Vidarbha and Tripura remains the only ones to adopt the recommendations," a source close to the Committee of Administrators (CoA) told PTI.

The Tripura Cricket Association (TCA) and the Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) had become the first full members of the BCCI to implement the lodha reforms way back in September.

The CoA, which next meets in Delhi on February 17, will soon submit a status report to the Supreme Court on the implementation of lodha reforms across BCCI.

"The CoA is awaiting inputs from BCCI CEO Rahul Johri and after that they will submit their report to the Supreme Court," the source said further.

Beside Rai, the other members of CoA are historian Ramachandra Guha, MD and CEO of IDFC ltd Vikram limaye, and former Indian women’s cricket team captain Diana Eduljee.

The source also dismissed speculation that BCCI will pull out of future ICC tournaments, including the Champions Trophy in June, if it doesn't get a fair deal at the next ICC Board meeting in April when a final decision will be taken on the restructured revenue-sharing model of the global governing body.

"In his recent statements, Mr limaye (who attended the previous ICC meet in Dubai) has clearly said that a confrontational approach with the ICC won't work.  Pulling out of a tournament is not a solution and such a move would only hurt the team's countless fans," the source added.