Bengaluru: Brijesh Patel and Co. gearing up to be re-elected unopposed in three weeks time to the Karnataka State Cricket Association committee are in a sticky turf.
On Monday, the Supreme Court crashed their party accepting most of the Lodha Committee recommendations covering the overall aspects of the sport. When implemented, the parent body BCCI along with its affiliated state associations will have to fall in line within the sweeping reforms within the six-month window given by the apex court.
“The process has started, so we are going ahead with the elections. I can’t comment on the order because we haven’t received it yet. There are no changes in the candidature,” said secretary Patel on Monday.
The KSCA elections are scheduled for August 7 with the current committee gunning for another term. “There are no changes in the dates of the election. If there are any changes to be made in the future, we will implement it,” he added.
In the current KSCA committee, Patel, 63, is set for his fifth term since 1999. The former India Test batsman Patel lost to Javagal Srinath for the post in 2010 when former India captain and current coach Anil Kumble swept to victory.
Patel, however, returned to power in 2014 for a fourth term. Other committee members — Ashok Anand P.R, who replaced the late Maharaja Srikantadatta Wadiyar as president, is 75 while the Treasurer, Dayananda Pai is 72.
“We (KSCA) haven’t received any notification from the BCCI yet regarding the reforms. If we are asked to implement, we will have to obey the Supreme Court order,” said KSCA spokesperson Vinay Mrityunjaya on Monday.
Earlier in May this year, the SC made it categorically clear that the BCCI and all of its state associations will have to implement the Lodha reforms. “Once the BCCI is reformed it will go down the line and all cricket associations will have to reform themselves if they want to associate with it. The committee constituted in the wake of match-fixing and spot-fixing allegations was a serious exercise and not a futile exercise,” the two-judge bench said in response to an intervention plea filed by the Haryana Cricket Association stating that the Lodha Committee’s remit was only to recommend changes.
