Vacuum in state associations, says Shah

Dubai: The Lodha committee recommendations have hit the functioning of most of the state associations of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). With the administrators who ruled these state associations for decades being forced to step down, the newly-elected officials are up against it about how to continue it’s activities smoothly.

Speaking to Gulf News, Niranjan Shah, the former secretary of the BCCI who ruled the Saurashtra Cricket Association for over four decades, said: “My first reaction was when I am not there, why should I bother about how the association will function but I feel that there are capable people in the governing committee of my association who may need some guidance. I don’t want to leave them alone and I will offer whatever help they need, though I will not be heading the association.”

It is understood that many other state association heads, who were forced to step down as per Lodha committee’s recommendation are not as sporting, like Shah, to lend their support to ensure that their state associations activities do not come to a standstill.

“It is a fact that the Supreme Court ruling has created a vacuum in all state associations. We have to respect the ruling of the Supreme Court. Now, the only way out is to wait and see how the cricket activities of all the states continue as it used to be happening. There is no other choice,” added Shah.

Shah believes that staging of international matches by state associations may not be as smooth as in the past. “There will be constraints in staging international matches because there are some guidelines from the Supreme Court regarding release of funds for the matches,” said Shah.

While 21 state units of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) have reportedly confirmed in writing to implement all reforms, a group of 24 officials of different state units that held power have held an informal meeting in Bengaluru under former BCCI presidents Anurag Thakur and N. Srinivasan to work out a counter strategy.

Though Lodha panel are in a position now to go ahead and implement all their directives, the officials who had to step down still wield huge powers in some of the state associations and can create roadblocks. Though the Lodha panel had been dismissive about the coalition of these 24 individuals, who are no longer ‘eligible’ anywhere in India, the officials have tremendous control over state units due to their decades long tenure as administrators and hence cannot be taken lightly.

Among the officials who attended the meeting were former BCCI secretary Ajay Shirke, joint secretary Amitabh Chaudhary and treasurer Aniruddh Chaudhary. Rajiv Shukla, the chairman of the Indian Premier League, was also present in the meeting. The Bengaluru meeting, incidentally, was an attempt to forge unity among all state associations and be prepared for January 19 when the Supreme Court is supposed to announce the interim administrators.