New Delhi: From Saturday, all focus shifts to the next steps following Roger Binny’s departure as president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) due to him turning 70.
Binny, a member of India’s 1983 ODI World Cup-winning team, was elected as the BCCI President in 2022, where he succeeded former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly in the top rule. But according to the board’s constitution, no person can hold any post after ‘he/she has attained the age of 70 years’.
The rules also say that ’the vice-president shall officiate in the president’s absence when the president is unavailable’, which means vice-president Rajeev Shukla can take over as the interim BCCI president after Binny’s departure.
“The vice-president shall also exercise such functions and duties as he may be empowered by the General Body of the Apex Council,” further say the Board’s rules.
If indeed Shukla takes over as the acting BCCI president, as per what sources told IANS, he is likely to continue till September, when the elections for the next set of office-bearers are scheduled to take place in the board’s Annual General Meeting (AGM).
In his playing career, Binny featured in 27 Tests and 72 ODIs from 1979 to 1987. He also served on the senior men’s selection committee and was the head coach when India won the 2000 U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup in Sri Lanka.
In Binny’s tenure as BCCI president, the successful launch of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) and India men’s team winning 2024 Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 and 2025 Champions Trophy were the notable moments. Under Binny’s presidency, the policy of players to participate in domestic cricket when not on national duty also took shape.
Meanwhile, Shukla, a Rajya Sabha MP from the Congress party, has been a vastly experienced cricket administrator. He served as the IPL commissioner from 2011 to 2017, before becoming BCCI vice-president in 2020 and being re-elected to the post in 2022.
