Shamik Chakrabarty, Mumbai
Harbhajan Singh is being considered as an option to become the next BCCI president, but nothing has been finalised yet. Elections for the office-bearers’ posts would be held at the BCCI’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Mumbai on September 28, and the dates for filing nominations are September 20 and 21. Whoever is picked to helm the cricket board going ahead, he would be elected unopposed, but the whole thing is set to go down to the wire.
Harbhajan, an MP in the Rajya Sabha who was nominated by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), will represent the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA). Sourav Ganguly, meanwhile, will represent the Cricket Association Bengal (CAB), as he is set to return as the state association president. The former India captain was asked about whether he could be the next BCCI president after he filed his nomination for the CAB president’s post at Eden Gardens on Sunday. “Don’t assume anything,” he told reporters.
“Lag raha hai Harbhajan ho sakta hai (Looks like Harbhajan could be the next BCCI president),” an Indian cricket insider told this correspondent. “However, if for example, Ganguly becomes a unanimous choice at the eleventh hour, Harbhajan might pull himself out of the race.”
By tradition, things in the BCCI’s corridors of power are decided at the last moment. When Ganguly became the BCCI president in 2019, developments happened only on the AGM eve. Brijesh Patel, who looked like a shoo-in to take charge of the BCCI, got the IPL chairman’s post instead. Ganguly served as the cricket board president until 2022 before going to a mandatory cooling-off period. RevSportz can confirm that the BCCI’s decision-makers haven’t approached him yet this time. Things, though, can change in the home stretch.
The previous two BCCI presidents were eminent former India cricketers – Ganguly and Roger Binny. Both, however, had administrative experience at the state level before taking a leap. Ganguly served as the CAB secretary followed by a stint as state association president. He gave Eden Gardens a facelift during his first spell as a cricket administrator. Binny was the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) president from 2019-2022 before coming to the BCCI. Harbhajan doesn’t have any administrative experience in cricket to speak of.
If the BCCI continues with its recent practice of electing a former cricketer as its president, then Jaydev Shah could be a left-field choice. Jaydev captained Saurashtra in the Ranji Trophy and oversaw the development of the likes of Cheteshwar Pujara and Ravindra Jadeja. As the incumbent Saurashtra Cricket Association (SCA) president, he has been doing a fine job in terms of improving the facilities and developing infrastructure.
Rajeev Shukla at the moment is said to be serving as the BCCI’s interim president after Binny stepped down as he reached 70. It would be interesting to see if Shukla, who will represent the Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association at the AGM, throws his hat into the ring.
Currently, it’s like the middle-overs phase in an ODI, as the BCCI gears up for its upcoming AGM. Backroom parleys are expected to pick up pace in the slog overs, closer to the dates of filing nominations.
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