Saikia and Bhatia are all set to take on the roles of BCCI secretary and treasurer

3 months ago | 5 Views

Mumbai: Devajit Saikia and Prabhtej Singh Bhatia have put in their nominations for the roles of secretary and treasurer of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), and they’re expected to be elected without any opposition during the Special General Meeting scheduled for January 12 in Mumbai.

Saikia, who is currently the board’s joint secretary, has been acting as the secretary since Jay Shah became the Chair of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in December. His promotion will create a vacancy for the joint secretary position, which will be filled through upcoming elections. This shake-up among the office-bearers is necessary, as Ashish Shelar is also stepping down from the treasurer role after being appointed as a minister in the Maharashtra cabinet.

Saikia is the advocate-general of Assam and has a background as a first-class cricketer, having played four domestic matches for Assam. Under his leadership, the Assam Cricket Association successfully hosted IPL games in Guwahati, along with warm-up matches for the 2023 ODI World Cup. Thanks to the Justice RM Lodha reforms, the North-Eastern region has gained more recognition in the cricket board, with new state units from that area now having voting rights.

Bhatia, who is set to take over from Shelar, is involved in the liquor industry as a co-owner of Simba beer. In the cricket world, he has ties to the Chhattisgarh State Cricket Sangh, where he previously served as president, a role that helped the organization gain full membership with the BCCI in 2016. He has also been a part of the BCCI’s Apex Council.

Roger Binny, a 1983 World Cup champion, remains the president, while Rajiv Shukla holds the vice-president position. Those office-bearers who haven't served two consecutive three-year terms can still be re-elected at the board's AGM in September.

The board's zonal setup means that the lack of representatives from the North and West Zones will probably be sorted out soon. Since the Committee of Administrators stepped down in 2019 and the BCCI went back to elections, the office-bearers have been getting elected without any competition.

Binny is the main cricket figure among the decision-makers, but once Saikia gets elected, he’s likely to step up and play a bigger role in managing the transition for the Indian cricket team.

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