Mithun Manhas top contender for BCCI President post - Reports

Roger Binny’s tenure as BCCI President ended after he reached the age of 70.

Delhi cricketing giant Mithun Manhas is reportedly in the lead to become the next Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president. On Sunday, September 21, the last day to submit papers for the election, he submitted his bid for the BCCI presidency. Naturally, he is expected to be appointed without opposition.

The Jammu & Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA) nominated Manhas, who has served as its administrator, for the election and Annual General Meeting (AGM) on September 28.

Given the prominence of other candidates and aspirants, Manhas (45), who played in 157 First-Class (FC) matches throughout an 18-year domestic career from 1998 to 2016, came as an unexpected selection. Harbhajan Singh and Sourav Ganguly’s names were still up for grabs, but Manhas received the unexpected approval of Delhi’s ruling elite.

“His cricketing background has helped him get the position,” Rajeev Shukla, who will continue as vice-president, said at the BCCI office.

Raghuram Bhatt files nomination as well, along with Devajit Saikia and Prabhtej Bhatia

Up till the final second, former India test cricketer Raghuram Bhatt was also vying for the top spot. However, he ultimately had to accept the position of treasurer. He filed documents, too.

“I will do my best for Indian cricket and the BCCI in whatever way I can,” the former India spinner from Bengaluru told Cricbuzz.

Devajit Saikia and Prabhtej Bhatia also applied for the positions of secretary and joint secretary in addition to Manhas and Bhatt. Rohan Dessai, the current joint secretary, was also anticipated to stay on, but he was unable to do so when his faction lost the Goa Cricket Association (GCA) election.

At first, it was unclear if Arun Dhumal, the chairman of the Indian Premier League (IPL), was covered by the cooling-off period. After consulting with a lawyer, the BCCI was given the all-clear to proceed.

All of this was decided at the residence of a union minister, in the presence of all BCCI functionaries—Saikia, Singh, Shukla, and Dhumal. Former board bigwigs Niranjan Shah, Kasi Viswanathan from Tamil Nadu, who represented former president N. Srinivasan, and Karnataka’s Brijesh Patel were all present at the meeting as well.

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