Lodha effect? BCCI staring at leadership crisis

In the wake of the Lodha Committee recommendations, the Board of Control for Cricket in India is staring at a leadership crisis as 95 per cent of the top brass will be wiped out if the report is implemented with retrospective effect.

According to cricket board sources, this matter was discussed by the BCCI members at the Special General Meeting, in Mumbai, before it was adjourned for Saturday on technical grounds.

The discussions focussed on the implications of the recommendations of the Supreme Court-appointed committee, with members feeling that the BCCI is caught between a rock and a hard place, said a source who attended the meeting.

The members were of the view that if the recommendations are implemented, there will be chaos in Indian cricket as 95 per cent of the BCCI leadership will be wiped out, the sources said.

"We are sure that the Lodha Committee wants betterment of cricket but who will run Indian cricket if the entire leadership is finished? There will be organisational chaos and it will spell doom for Indian cricket," said a BCCI member.

The member noted that the situation has emerged in the middle of the cricket season, with 13 international Test matches lined up.

"If there is no experienced leadership, who will manage the affairs? Most work at the lower level is done by the honorary members," he said.

The member, on condition of anonymity, said the recommendations are generally implemented with prospective effect but the Lodha committee has said its suggestions should be implemented with retrospective effect.

With regard to the cooling off period, the BCCI members feel it should be at least six years instead of three years recommended by the Lodha committee.