BCCI gets a breather as Lodha panel to take five months to submit report

The panel to review Lodha committee report will comprise Anurag Thakur (left) and Rajiv Shukla. Anirudh Chaudhary and Sourav Ganguly are the other members.

THE Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is likely to get some breathing space with the RM Lodha Committee having sought another five months to submit its second report, in which it is expected to recommend reforms to the board’s functioning. While the BCCI is scheduled to host its annual general body meeting in September, the much-awaited reforms will not be made public till the end of the year.

This will mean that the board can continue to run its affairs based on its present rule-book for some time yet.

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There has been a sense of anxiety that has gripped the BCCI’s corridors of power ever since the Supreme Court had asked the Lodha committee to recommend reforms to the board’s Memorandum of Association and Rules & Regulations.

The committee has of course already dealt with their primary objective, which was to decide upon and deliver the quantum of punishment to Gurunath Meiyappan, Raj Kundra and their respective franchises in the Indian Premier League (IPL) corruption scandal. In addition to banning Meiyappan and Kundra for life, they also suspended Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) for a period of two years.

Unsure of consequences

There is a feeling within the BCCI that they could save face by taking a strong call on the issue regarding the futures of CSK and RR, with the body divided on whether to terminate the two tainted franchises or not. They are even unsure whether it will have a direct bearing on the Lodha committee’s recommendations.

For now, the IPL Governing Council (GC) named those who will make up the working group to study the Lodha commission’s report.

The panel will be headed by IPL chairman Rajiv Shukla, with former India captain Sourav Ganguly included as a players’ representative.

The four-member group also comprises of BCCI treasurer Anirudh Chaudhary and secretary Anurag Thakur. The committee will be assisted by Usha Nath Banerjee, BCCI’s legal adviser.

“The committee will share their recommendations with the Governing Council within a time frame of six weeks after consulting all the key stakeholders,” BCCI secretary Thakur said in a statement on Sunday.

Shukla has indicated that the working group will discuss the issue with all the stakeholders of the IPL and also consult legal experts on the complications that might arise in the future.

The Indian board is learnt to be not in any hurry to take a decisive call as the next edition of the IPL is still nine months away.

“We still have some time for IPL 9, so we should not take any hasty decision. We will follow the procedure and come to a consensus on all the matters relating to IPL,” said Shukla.