Former Delhi captain Mithun Manhas is set to become the next president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). As of Saturday, a day before the deadline to file nominations for various BCCI positions closed, Manhas was the only candidate in the fray for the top post. The position has remained vacant since former India allrounder Roger Binny stepped down in August. BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla has served as interim president since.
Another former cricketer is also likely to join the list of BCCI office bearers, with former Karnataka and India spinner Raghuram Bhat expected to become the new treasurer. Bhat currently serves as president of the Karnataka State Cricket Association.
Manhas, who will turn 46 in October, is a member of the sub-committee appointed by the BCCI to oversee the operations of the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association. Born in Jammu, Manhas began his career with Delhi before switching to Jammu and Kashmir in 2015, retiring the following year. He has since worked as a coach with various teams, including as a batting consultant for the Bangladesh Under-19 men’s side and Indian Premier League teams Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings), Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Gujarat Titans.
A stalwart of Indian domestic cricket, Manhas played from the 1997-98 to the 2016-17 seasons. He featured in 157 first-class matches, scoring 9,714 runs, 130 List A games with 4,126 runs and 91 T20 matches, in which he scored 1,170 runs.
His name reportedly emerged during an informal meeting in Delhi on Saturday, attended by key BCCI members including ICC chairman Jay Shah, Shukla, BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia, Delhi and District Cricket Association president Rohan Jaitley and former board secretary Niranjan Shah.
Elections for BCCI office bearers are scheduled to be held at the board’s Annual General Meeting on 28 September in Mumbai. Unless new nominations are filed by the end of Sunday, the names discussed at Saturday’s meeting are expected to stand unopposed.
It is understood that Saikia, who replaced Shah as BCCI secretary in January, will continue in his current role. Shukla is also expected to remain as vice-president. Prabhtej Bhatia of the Chhattisgarh State Cricket Sangh, who was elected treasurer in January, will take over as joint secretary, replacing Rohan Desai, the former secretary of the Goa Cricket Association.
Former Saurashtra captain Jaydev Shah is likely to join the BCCI Apex Council, replacing Mizoram’s Khairul Jamal Majumdar, who is expected to move to the IPL Governing Council.
