With Lodha Committee suspended two IPL franchises, and to change the BCCI’s constitution, rules and regulations in the months to come, the board is yet to face its biggest crisis.
Last month, reports of the Lodha Committee questioning who was in charge of the BCCI after they finding Dalmiya’s unable to speak clearly and needing his son to interpret his answers for him.
“If this is the physical and mental condition of the BCCI president at present, did those who elected him three months not know about this?,” the committee said. “If the physical and mental condition of the president has deteriorated so much in recent times, then who is running the affairs of the richest cricket body?”
According to reports carried out by The Indian Express, some BCCI members wants present President Jagmohan Dalmiya to step down as the septuagenarian has been suffering from age related illness.
“Technically, Anurag (Thakur) is working both as president and secretary in BCCI at the moment,” a senior BCCI offical told The Indian Express.
“An institution like the BCCI needs someone who is completely fit. We all know what Dalmiya has done for Indian cricket, but looking at his health, we all feel he should step down.
The BCCI will be hosting the ICC T20 World Cup next year and there are many more important decisions to be taken in the months to come. We will feel he should step down. The BCCI will host will be hosting the ICC T20 World Cup next year and there are many more important decisions to be taken in the months to come.”
The news broke out in the wake of Lodha Committee verdict. Now, BCCI has been going through a credibility crisis. BCCI needs someone who can take decision quickly, but Jagmohan Dalmiya is apparently unable to do so. BCCI does not have provision for an interim president. They only way is Dalmiya should himself step down or force him to step down, and call fresh elections. This can happen in Annual General Meeting in September.
Jagmohan Dalmiya elected President of BCCI after a gap of ten years in March this year. But, four months after his election, the board members found him unfit to run the board’s day to day affair.
A few months back, when BCCI Working Committee meeting held in Kolkata many were surprised by seeing Dalmiya’s son Avishek looking after daily affairs of BCCI.
If Dalmiya himself not quit, then the board members will rope to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to convince Dalmiya his time is up. ““Dalmiya will only listen to Jaitley. Even before the last elections, Dalmiya had made it clear that he would follow whatever Jaitley said,” sources told the Indian Express.
In case Dalmiya step-down, Maharashtra Crickte Association President Ajay Shirke who has clean image has stong chance to replace Dalmiya. Shirke is close to NCP chief Sharad Power, the former BCCI President.