The BCCI will finalize India’s revised Future Tours Program and the domestic season when it holds its fourth meeting of the Apex Council on 17 July. The meeting will be held online amid the COVID-19 pandemic, like the last emergent meeting on May 6.
The nine-member Council will also be able to discuss the escalating issue of Chinese sponsorship in the India Premier league.
Nonetheless, any matter relating to the IPL can only be officially discussed by its Governing Council, which had called for a meeting to review Chinese sponsorship of the cash-rich league in the wake of last month’s Galwan Valley clash but still has a date to be set.
The last game played by the Indian cricket team was in the first week of March, and they were scheduled to tour Sri Lanka in June-July for a limited-overs series but that series was postponed indefinitely due to the Covid-19. Their August Zimbabwe tour was also postponed for the time being.
The number of cases in India still rising rapidly, it is not even clear when players will assemble for a training camp although some of them have hit the nets individually.
The agenda of the meeting also included the discussion on finalising the domestic cricket season calendar. The previous season ended in March with the Ranji Trophy final before the nationwide lockdown was imposed, and the lockdown was leading to the indefinite postponement of the Irani Cup.
It will, in all probability, be a curtailed domestic season particularly if the IPL is played in the September-October window on which the BCCI has zeroed on, but this is subject to the fate of October-November T20 World Cup.
Last month the ICC gave a deadline extension to BCCI until December to obtain tax exemption for the T20 World Cup which was scheduled to take place in India next month.
A BCCI official told the media that the issue is also on the agenda. Besides that, the Council will also discuss “issues concerning Bihar Cricket Association”.
Also, the CAG nominees in council Alka Rehani Bhardwaj have warned the board that only the eligible office-bearers are able to attend the meeting.“
Alka Rehani Bhardwaj stated in the email she wrote, “The President/Joint Secretary BCCI (who would be presumably serve as Secretary after vacation of Secretary BCCI post) must also ensure that fourth Apex Council meeting is attended by only eligible members, as per the Constitution.”
As mentioned by her, “Any decision on this issue should please be backed by facts and endorsed legally. This is being reiterated only to ensure compliance with Honourable Supreme Court approved Constitution.”
The BCCI has sought an extension of the term for its president, Sourav Ganguly, and secretary Jay Shah from the Apex Court until 2025.
