BCCI polls in next 3 months: Vinod Rai

Almost a week after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) registered its new constitution, the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) said on Monday the board's polls will be held in three months.

"We are looking at elections in about 90 days and that's the deadline we have given ourselves. We have given the date as September 20. There is no cause for any ambiguity," CoA chief Vinod Rai told reporters here.

"The COA will leave, the moment the new body takes over. There is a specific mandate that has been given to the CoA; rest assured that we will not overstep it by a day," he added.

Defending each and every decision of the CoA, that also witnessed the ugly spat between skipper Virat Kohli and then coach Anil Kumble, resulting in the latter's unceremonious exit and the subsequent appointment of Ravi Shastri as the coach, Rai said: "It wasn't an unceremonious exit as his contract was only for a year. It had no renewal or extension clause."

"When the CoA took over, we got to know a month later that his contract was expiring and we followed the protocol that was followed during his appointment.

"The idea was to select the head coach by the CAC -- comprising of Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and V.V.S. Laxman. Transparency requires you follow a process and the due process throws up a result."

"The CAC was the entrusted body and they did what they felt was best. We made no statements on Zaheer Khan or Rahul Dravid's appointments. Our job was to select the head coach through the due process," he clarified.

Dismissing talks of power being snatched from any office bearer in the board, Rai said: "The bank account of the BCCI shall be operated by two authorised signatories from out of a list of authorised signatories, designated by the Apex Council from among the professional management who are based out of the headquarters in Mumbai."

"We have no choice. It says professional management based in Mumbai. Even today, there is an acting secretary, an acting president and an honourary treasurer. No powers have been taken away from anybody," he added.

Rai also assured the state associations that all their problems of implementing the new constitution will be addressed once they adopted it.

"Let them first adopt the new Constitution and get the compliance. The practical problems that they have regarding qualification of selectors and all can then be addressed," he said.

Rai also cleared the air on Uttarakhand and Pondicherry's participation in the upcoming Ranji Trophy season.

"In the interest of cricketers of Uttarakhand, a consensus committee has been constituted. We have ensured that Uttarakhand will get to play in Ranji in the current year. Pondicherry will also be taken on board as an associate member and they will also play," he said.

--IANS

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