BCCI AGM 2022 Highlights: Roger Binny replaces Sourav Ganguly as 36th BCCI President; India not to travel to Pakistan for Asia Cup 2023. Women's IPL, Senior Men & Women Future Tour Programs (FTP) approved in AGM.
The 91st Annual General Meeting of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) was held on October 18, 2022 in Mumbai where former India all-rounder and member of 1983 Cricket World Cup champions squad, Roger Binny replaced ex-president Sourav Ganguly.
The 67-year-old Binny who was a coach and a former national selector had stints with the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) before taking over as its president in 2019. With 18 wickets, he was the highest wicket-taker for India in the 1983 Cricket World Cup.
“I wish Roger Binny all the best, the new group will take this forward; the BCCI is in great hands, Indian team is strong and so, I wish them all the luck,” Ganguly said.
Improving pitches and reducing injuries primary aims of Binny
On his first day in the new position, Roger Binny wasted no time in drawing out his future plans where he wanted to ‘get to the bottom’ when it comes to injuries sustained by players and figuring out how could this issue be resolved in the upcoming days.
“We will look to improve on what we can do to reduce injuries to players,” Binny informed in an informal chat with members of the media. “Players getting frequently injured is a concern, and we wish to get to the bottom of it all and see how it can be changed for the better,” he stressed, saying that they have got some excellent doctors and trainers at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru, but the players must improve their recovery processes.
It is notable that India have used almost 40 players in this year across formats; few of the omissions and additions have been because of the high number of games India play where different series are taking place at the same time, but most of these replacements have been because of injuries. India’s premier pacer Jasprit Bumrah and key all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja won’t be a part of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia because of stress injury and surgery on the right knee whereas Deepak Chahar who just completed his rehab at the NCA a few months ago has again been ruled of the competition as a reserve player.
Other than dealing with the issues, Binny promised to improve pitches used for the domestic cricket in India where there will be much more grass which will allow batters to prepare for overseas games. “There needs to be more life in the wickets at home, so that our teams would not have the problem of adjusting when travelling abroad - like in Australia, where there is more pace and bounce.”
Binny was also very keen on improving the fan experience at the games by developing the stadium infrastructure across the country.
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India decides not to travel Pakistan for the 2023 Asia Cup
The biggest news of the evening came when in the BCCI’s annual general meeting in Mumbai, secretary Jay Shah who is also the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) president, suggested that the next year’s Asia Cup would have to be played at a neutral venue given India will not travel to Pakistan.
“The Asia Cup 2023 will be held at a neutral venue,” Shah commented to the media in the presence of new president Roger Binny. “I’m saying this as an ACC President, we (India) can’t go there (to Pakistan), they can’t come here; in the past also, Asia Cup has been played at neutral venues.”
Shah’s comments are going to make an impact on the ICC events; India are set to host the 2023 One Day International World Cup, while Pakistan are scheduled to organize the 2025 Champions Trophy. If both teams decide not to tour each of the countries, then these two ICC tournaments might find themselves in troubled waters.
India’s last trip to Pakistan was for the 2008 Asia Cup, while Pakistan’s last visit to India was for ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2016 for which they were granted government permission at the eleventh hour. But in case of bilateral series, Pakistan toured India last time for a white-ball series in 2012-2013. Both sides pulled out from previous editions of the Asia Cup for which the United Arab Emirates (UAE) hosted the tournament in the last two editions.
With both India and Pakistan due to face each other in the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 on October 23 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in Melbourne, the atmosphere will undoubtedly raise the temperature among fans from both sides.
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WIPL receives green signal
The Women’s Indian Premier League (WIPL) has also received a green signal from the authorities to formalise its due processes.
Earlier, it was decided that there could be 20 league games to be played across two venues among five teams. There also could be six teams being distributed zone wise: North [(Dharamsala/Jammu), South (Kochi/Vizag), Central (Indore/Nagpur/Raipur), East (Ranchi/Cuttack), North East (Guwahati) and West (Pune/ Rajkot).
The date for the start of WIPL could be March 26, as being reported by few sources.
Future tour programs for Senior Men and Women approved
There will also be regularity in arranging the Future Tour Programs (FTP) for Senior Men and Women players. The Senior Men’s Tour Programs for 2023-2027 and Senior Women’s Future Tour Programs for 2022-2025 season were approved by the general body in the meeting.
The structure will offer players to have more game time and exposure to international level. This will also help the team management building larger pool of players ready for the International series or ICC tournaments.
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