Roger Binny, a member of the 1983 World Cup winning team, on Tuesday filed his nomination for the post of BCCI President and is likely to get the top job unopposed, Board vice-president Rajeev Shukla said.
Binny, 67, is so far the only candidate to have filed nomination for the post and if no other candidate emerges, he will replace Sourav Ganguly as BCCI chief when the Board holds its AGM on October 18 in Mumbai.
After hectic parleys and back-channel discussions over the past week, it was decided that Binny was the best pick as the 36th Board president, one of the sources familiar with the development, said.
Jay Shah, son of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, has also filed nomination and will continue as BCCI Secretary for a second consecutive term if no other candidate throws his hat in the ring.
Shah is also expected to replace Ganguly as India's representative at the all-powerful ICC Board.
"Roger Binny has filed nomination for president's post, myself for the vice-president's post, Jay Shah for secretary, Ashish Shelar for treasurer and Devajit Saikia has filed nomination for joint secretary's post," Shukla told reporters.
"Arun Dhumal will head the IPL governing council and Abhishek Dalmiya will be part of that council. Khairul Jamal (Mamun) Majumdar will be part of the Apex council. As of now these are the nominations and all remain unopposed," Shukla added.
Wednesday is the last day for filing nominations. Candidates can withdraw their nominations by October 14. The final list of candidates for various positions will be published on October 15.
Binny, though, is a surprise choice to head the BCCI.
However, there was indication that his name would emerge when the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) named him as its representative at BCCI AGM instead of secretary Santosh Menon. Binny is KSCA President and will have to relinquish his position in the state body.
The medium pacer was one of the architects of India's historic World Cup triumph in 1983. In eight games, he took 18 wickets, the highest in that edition of the prestigious tournament.
Binny has served as member of senior selection committee in the past when Sandeep Patil was the chairman. Whenever his son Stuart Binny's name came up for discussion for selection in the Indian team, he would recuse himself from the proceedings.
"Roger is one of the finest human beings and a thorough gentleman, who has graced the field for India. Plus, he is also a World Cup hero and has a squeaky-clean image. He had resigned from the selection committee after Lodha committee pointed out conflict of interest," said a BCCI source.
The only Congressman in the BCCI cabinet would be Shukla who will continue as vice president if he gets elected.
Sports minister Anurag Thakur's younger brother Arun Singh Dhumal, who is currently the treasurer, will now become IPL chairman. He will replace Brijesh Patel.
Influential Maharashtra BJP leader Ashish Shelar will be the new treasurer which means that he won't become Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) president. He was supposed to take up the role with support from Sharad Pawar faction.
"Once he (Shelar) takes over as a treasurer, he will have to withdraw his nomination from MCA president's post," Shukla further informed.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma's close aide Devajit Saikia is expected to replace Jayesh George as the new joint secretary.
Whether BCCI will contest for the ICC chairmanship hasn't been decided as yet. Shukla said it will be discussed during the AGM.
Ganguly refused IPL chairmanship
Ganguly, who reached Mumbai on Monday evening, had a lot of meetings with the stakeholders in New Delhi last week.
The former India captain was keen to continue as BCCI President but he was told that there is no precedence of giving a second term to the Board president.
"Sourav was offered IPL chairmanship but he politely declined the offer. His logic was that he cannot accept becoming head of a sub-committee in BCCI after heading the same institution. He had expressed interest in continuing in the position," the BCCI source said.
In case of Dhumal, the decision makers waited for Ganguly to take a call on IPL chairmanship and once he refused, they decided to promote the Himachal man who is one of the most efficient men in BCCI cabinet.
With Ganguly moving out of the picture, the East representation was always going to be Assam CM Biswa Sarma's call as he played a key role even last time.
