New Delhi. Mithun Manhas has become the new chairman of the Indian Cricket Board. Manhas was elected unopposed president during the 94th annual general meeting of BCCI at Mumbai headquarters. While the board secretary Devjit Saikia and other members were also elected unopposed. Manhas (45 years) became the 37th president of the board. He replaced Roger Binny, who resigned from the post after completing the age of 70 years last month. Manhas, Rogen Binny and former captain Sourav Ganguly are the third consecutive first class cricketer to become the chairman of the board.
Manhas’s first reaction came after BCCI became the new boss.
Manhas, who scored 9,714 runs including 27 centuries in the first class and 4,126 runs in List A, said that he would trust his experience as a player and administrator. Manhas told the media in Mumbai on Sunday after becoming the BCCI President, ‘It is an honor for me to become the chairman of the world’s best cricket board. It is also a very big responsibility. I assure that I will be committed to fulfill it with my full potential, dedication and passion.
Asked about which factors played an important role in his election as the chairman of the board, he said, ‘Maybe my work, my credibility… as a administrator and a cricketer, both as the chairman. I have been working with JKCA for the last four years. We have done a very good job and this will definitely help. Some more important appointments in AGM were also confirmed. BCCI Secretary Saikia and IPL Governing Council President Arun Dhumal have been retained in his post. Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) chief and former Indian cricketer Raghuram Bhat was elected treasurer.
Veteran Administrator Rajiv Shukla will continue to be the vice -president of the board while M Khairul Jamal Mazumdar has been nominated as one of the two representatives in the IPL Governing Council. Prabhtej Bhatia has been made Joint Secretary in place of treasurer. He will replace Rohan Gaons Desai. Jaydev Shah, president of Saurashtra Cricket Association, has been made a member of the top council.
Saikia said, ‘There was no competition against any of the candidates who had submitted nominations for the posts of the top council. His selection has been unopposed. Former Indian international players RP Singh and Pragyan Ojha were included in the men’s selection panel while former Tamil Nadu batsman S Sharat went back to the Junior Selection Committee. Sharat was still a member of the Senior Selection Committee.
The Senior Selection Committee headed by Ajit Agarkar now includes former Indian players Shiv Sundar Das, Ajay Ratra, RP Singh and Ojha. Amita Sharma has been made the chairman of the women’s selection panel. She will replace Neetu David. Former Indian players Shyama Dey, Jaya Sharma and Shravanti Naidu have got a place in the selection panel with former fast bowler Amita, who played 116 ODIs and 41 T20 internationals between 2002 and 2014 for India.
Their tenure will begin after the Women’s World Cup to be held in India and Sri Lanka from September 30 to November 2. The first match of the tournament will be between the two Sahajaban on 30 September. Saikia said, ‘One of the main decisions taken during the annual general meeting (AGM) today was the appointment of senior male and members of the Women’s Selection Committee. The process of new appointments was going on. Today these appointments were confirmed with an absolute majority.
Binny was in this post since the start of the league in 2023. Rohan Jaitley, president of Delhi and District Cricket Association, was appointed as the chairman of the infrastructure committee. Saikia said that the BCCI has asked the state associations to enroll for various committees including the Cricket Advisory Committee and the Umpire Committee. He said, ‘They have to follow some provisions of the Constitution in which eligibility is a criteria. We have requested them to send the names that they consider eligible and eligible.