Chapter Three: Management

The Lodha Commission believes that the BCCI will thrive by having professionals experienced with  large corporations in charge of its daily operations.

Governance and policy direction are to be kept separate from the execution of the body’s vision.

This multiple-tiered hierarchy is on lines with what exists in the Football Association (FA) of the United Kingdom, the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the Federation Internationale de Hockey sur Gazon (FIH), MLB, NBA and NFL respectively.

The BCCI and its members are to be run professionally.

Non-cricketing management will be led by a CEO and his team.

Cricketing matters such as selection, coaching and performance evaluation will be left to the ex-players.

Umpiring will be handled exclusively by umpires.

The Cricket and Umpires committees will report to the Apex Council.

The CEO will be assisted by two advisory committees the Tours, Fixtures & Technical Committee and the Tournaments Committee.

The CEO too will be accountable to the Apex Council.

A maximum of six managers will aid the CEO in the following matters: Operations, Finance, Technical, Compliance (legal), Human Resources and Media.

The CEO will be contracted for a tenure of five years to the BCCI while the managers will be regular employees.

Seven cricket committees will deal with selection, coaching, performance evaluation and talent resource development of Men, Women, Junior, Zonal and Differently-Abled teams. They will consist only of former players and report directly to the Apex Council.

The selection committee will no longer be zonal in nature and would consist of just three members.

Currently existing committees such as ‘Vizzy Trophy Committee’, ‘the TV Production Committee’, ‘the Ground & Pitches Committee’, ‘the Museum Committee’ and

‘Cricket Advisory Committee’ are to be abolished.

Two standing committees namely the Senior Tournaments Committee, and the Tours, Fixtures & Technical Committee are retained to give guidance to the new CEO and his team.

Comments:

The professionalization of the BCCI is to be welcomed. The BCCI can no longer be run in an ad-hoc fashion given it is the richest sporting body in the country and within the ICC. The BCCI’s functioning needs to be streamlined and be more in line with modern organisations. Ex-players are well-qualified to take care of cricketing matters and the umpires will enjoy autonomy with regards to decisions on their profession.

The five-man selection committee is a relic of the division of the country into five zones. In this modern age, three selectors will be more than enough to select a team of 16 players and 30 probables given that there is no longer the need for them to traverse the length and breadth of the nation. They can catch up on Ranji and other national tournaments via television and video recordings.

The CEO’s term is limited to five years thus making him accountable for the BCCI’s performance during his tenure. Career professionals too may find the BCCI a practical proposition for employment in their respective fields.

The creation of committees for women and differently-abled implies that the BCCI has been given a mandate to be more inclusive in its policies to the less privileged sections of the sport.

The separation of governance and policy from the daily running of the BCCI mirrors the best practices of corporate governance in large corporations.