Lodha committee report to dominate BCCI meeting

Kolkata, Aug 27 - The Lodha Committee report is likely to top the discussions as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) holds a crucial working committee meeting -- the last before its Annual General Meeting (AGM) next month -- here on Friday.

The Lodha Committee had earlier suspended Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) from the Indian Premier League (IPL) for breach of the tournament's operational rules.

The four-member BCCI working group, which submitted its recommendations to the IPL governing council on Thursday, will also table it before the working committee. 

The working group, which was formed by the BCCI after the Lodha Committee suspended CSK and RR, is headed by IPL chairman Rajiv Shukla. It also includes BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur, former India captain Sourav Ganguly and BCCI treasurer Anirudh Chaudhary.

Since this will be the first working committee meeting after the verdict, a lot of thought would be going into how the working group recommendations should be implemented.

On the other hand, CSK had filed a petition in the Madras High Court seeking a stay on the committee's order. The court had sent a notice to the BCCI making it the de-facto first party.

On Thursday, the court directed the BCCI and the Bihar Cricket Association (BCA) to file a comprehensive counter affidavit in response to the petition.

Other talking points on Friday will revolve around keeping the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bangalore and the affiliation status of Chhattisgarh, Bihar and Manipur, according to sources.

There will also be a financial committee meeting on Friday which will discuss the current valuation of CSK.

The working committee meeting will have many heavyweight cricket administrators in attendance including former BCCI president Narayanaswami Srinivasan, who will be present in his capacity as chief of the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA). But Mumbai Cricket Association chief Sharad Pawar is unlikely to be present.

(IANS)