Trying to rebuild its "tattered image after a spate of controversies," the Board of Control for Cricket in India "is waiting anxiously for the Justice Lodha Committee's report which is set to recommend a host of reforms for the cricket body on Monday," according to the PTI.
While the three-member committee comprising Justice (Retd) RM Lodha, Justice (Retd) Ashok Bhan and Justice (Retd) RV Raveendran is set to submit their report to the Supreme Court, the BCCI "will be keenly watching the proceedings as to whether the Apex Court makes the recommendations binding or not." There are reports in some quarters that the panel "may recommend that politicians should not be part of the Board which is run as a society registered under the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act."
The exec functionaries "are all honorary office-bearers with most of the top state cricket associations being run by either a politician, or a bureaucrat or a heavyweight industrialist." The second contentious issue in the report is the "Conflict of Interest."
The committee may also suggest making Indian Premier League a separate private limited company under section-8 "which has to reinvest all its profits."
Among the major points on governance structure, it "needs to be seen if the all-powerful working committee may be done away with suggestions about having a paid Board of Directors" (PTI, 1/3).
SRI LANKA ELECTION: The PTI reported Sri Lanka's World Cup-winning former captain Arjuna Ranatunga "suffered an embarrassing loss along with his brother Nishantha as Thilanga Sumathipala was elected" president of the country's Cricket Board on Sunday.
Sumathipala, the current deputy speaker of parliament got 88 votes as opposed to his main challenger, Nishantha, "who received 56 votes in the Sri Lanka Cricket elections" held at the Sports Ministry.
Special Task Force soldiers "were deployed in the vicinity of the ministry premises."
Arjuna, the current Minister of Ports and Shipping and the country's only ODI World Cup-winning captain, "was also defeated in his bid to become a vice-President."
He "was beaten by 22 votes to Jayantha Dharmadasa who belonged to the Sumathipala camp" (PTI, 1/3).
