“Finish the matter.” This was the common refrain amongst the state association representatives of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), who met in New Delhi along with their legal representatives to discuss a common strategy ahead of the next hearing by the Supreme Court. Fed up of Indian cricket being run by the SC-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA), they now want the “current situation” to end.
Representatives of over 16 state associations discussed the matter with a few joining via teleconference. The next hearing of the Supreme Court on the BCCI and matters pertaining to compliance with the Justice R.M. Lodha Committee reforms is scheduled to be heard on August 8. This informal meeting was called by former BCCI president N. Srinivasan.
While Srinivasan was unable to be present in person, he reportedly joined via a teleconference. State representatives of Delhi and J&K did not attend the meeting.
The change in stance is a far cry from the members' persistent stand of obstructing and then delaying the reforms process. After three years of board matters and Indian cricket being run by the Court appointed CoA, BCCI officials want elections to happen so that members can take control of the world's largest cricket body once again. That is only possible once state associations are fully compliant with the new constitution. While SC-appointed mediator and Amicus Curaie P.S. Narsimha has managed to get most states to comply and bring their constitutions in line with BCCI's, states still insist that they are autonomous bodies in their own right and therefore cannot be mirror images of the BCCI.
This matter falls under Article 19(1C) of the Indian constitution and is expected to come up before the SC in the next hearing.
Representatives from cricket associations of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Baroda, Saurashtra, Assam, Bengal, Sikkim, Manipur, Assam, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka were some of those who were present. The Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association joined via teleconference.
The CoA has already announced the schedule for state and BCCI elections to be held by October end.
