Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, vice-president, ombudsman, cricket committee. Crucial posts in the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) are lying vacant. To top it all, the board may soon be without its president, secretary and joint-secretary, if the Supreme Court doesn’t relax its earlier order on the cooling-off rule.

If these aren’t enough, since electing office-bearers on October 23, the BCCI hasn’t formed the committees which perform important duties. Going by its constitution, the senior tournament committee, tours and fixtures committee, technical committee will have major roles to play when cricketing activities resume after the lockdown.

After Sourav Ganguly, Jay Shah, Arun Dhumal, Mahim Verma and Jayesh George took over as president, secretary, treasurer, vice-president and joint-secretary, respectively, the standing committees were supposed to be formed at the annual general meeting. However, confusion over the eligibility of prospective committee members arising out of the conflict of interest clauses stopped the process and forced the BCCI to seek clarifications from the Supreme Court.
Although petitions were filed last year, the court is still to take up the case for hearing, which has indirectly made matters complicated for the BCCI. In the mean time, CFO Santosh Rangnekar, CEO Rahul Johri and vice-president Verma resigned. The board doesn’t have an ombudsman either, after DK Jain’s term got over on February 29. It’s compulsory to have these posts.

While day-to-day affairs were supposed to be handled by the CEO, the board has sought changes with regards to giving the power back to the secretary. It hasn’t been approved by the court yet and the CEO’s absence is being felt. Fees of umpires, match officials and also some domestic players are yet to be cleared. Although there are other executives, these departures from the routine have not gone unnoticed. Unlike some other boards, the BCCI hasn’t planned how things will be handled in the aftermath of COVID-19. While office-bearers hold discussions on and off, failure to make payments hasn’t won the BCCI admirers.

“Last season we conducted tournaments without these committees. Frankly speaking, it’s not affecting the functioning. All of us (office-bearers) are monitoring activities and are in regular touch. As for the committees, conflict of interest is an issue stopping us from making appointments. Once we are clear on that, committees will be formed. By August, we will have plans in place for the domestic calendar,” BCCI treasurer Dhumal told this daily.

Even the state units are unsure how the domestic season will look. While there are talks of changing the formats of Ranji Trophy, Vijay Hazare Trophy and Syed Mushtaq Ali T20s, the absence of a dedicated committee is adding to the confusion. In the past, the BCCI had a technical committee consisting of former cricketers, which decided the format of these competitions. Even Ganguly has been at the helm of the technical committee which proposed that all Ranji fixtures be played away from home on pitches assisting fast bowling.

“There is time to fill up the vacancies. Since the new constitution came in place, there have been issues which have to be cleared. Once the Supreme Court hears the petition, things will become normal. I understand that decisions have to be taken on the various domestic tournaments. But since it is the off-season, it hasn’t become an issue as yet. Eventually, this has to be decided. A definite plan on the road ahead has to be formed,” said former BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah, who continues to be an important figure.