BCCI gets a professional make over

Mumbai: The Indian Cricket Board has taken the first step towards professionalising the working of its archaic set-up by deciding to appoint an external agency to provide a suitable recommendation to this effect.

In other sweeping moves to remove cobwebs from its functioning, the BCCI's Working Committee meeting in Mumbai on Sunday also decided to appoint a legal cell, a cricket development committee headed by former India skipper Kapil Dev, a media committee and a constititution review committee.

Among other important decisions taken was the appointment of former Hyderabad off spinner Shivlal Yadav as Director of

the Bangalore-based National Cricket Academy, replacing another former Test cricketer Brijesh Patel, and making former Mumbai and India opener Lalchand Rajput as its chief coach.

The NCA will continue to be headed by cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar, BCCI President Sharad Pawar told a press conference after the meeting.

The Working committee also decided to reconstitute its Marketing Committee with Pawar himself at its helm and has given directions to clear the controversial TV rights issues before the Indian team departs for Pakistan in the first week of January.

In this context, the Working Committee has also authorised Pawar to constitute the legal cell and to take steps to resolve the pending court cases involving the BCCI and the former named Shashank Manohar of Vidarbha and leading Supreme Court lawyer Kapil Sibal as two of the members of the legal committee.

The Working Committee also discussed the resignation of Dalmiya as the chief of Asian Cricket Council (ACC) and Afro-Asian Cricket Co-operation (AACC).

In this connection Pawar said the ACC presidentship will be institutionalised by which the president of the member association whose turn it is to head the Asian body willalso be heading the ACC.

Pawar, thus, will be the new president of the continental body too as India at present heads the ACC.

The Working Committee decided that the issue of sponsorship of the Indian team will also be finalised and implemented before the team's visit to Pakistan. The earlier sponsorship deal with Sahara India ended last month.

Pawar said the BCCI headquarters will remain in Mumbai and unveiled a prototype of the new headquarters which is to be housed inside the Mumbai Cricket Association of which he is the President.

Constitution Review Committee:Shashank Manohar (chairman), I S Bindra, N Srinivasan, Lalit Modi, Arun Jaitley and Ratnakar Shetty.