We are not touching the 70-year age cap, amending cooling-off clause necessary: BCCI treasurer

BCCI treasurer Arun Dhumal on Monday said the Board is not looking to dilute the age cap of 70 years for its office-bearers in the upcoming AGM but will discuss amending the cooling-off clause as experience of the officials "must be utilised".

In the agenda released for the Annual General Meeting, the first since former captain Sourav Ganguly took over as BCCI President, the Board has proposed significant changes to the existing constitution which dilutes some of the reforms recommended by the Supreme Court-appointed Lodha panel.

As per the current constitution, which is approved by the Supreme Court, an office-bearer who has served two three-year terms either at the BCCI or at the state association, goes into a compulsory cooling-off for a three-year period.

The current dispensation at the BCCI wants the cooling off period to kick in after the individual has finished two terms (six years), at the board and state association separately.

"We have not touched the age cap (of years) we have kept it like that. We have not made any amendment to that. With regards to the cooling off, our point of view is if somebody has gained experience by running the state association why give him a cooling-off, that experience should be utilised in the best interest of the game. If he can contribute in BCCI, why not," Dhumal told PTI.

"If someone reaches 67 years of age after spending six years in a state association. If he has cooling off of three years, he is already 70 by then. He won't be able to contribute anything to the BCCI."
Will the Lodha reform be compromised if the amendments are ratified?
"The idea was to build the crowd for a Test match and for that reason, it has been a great success. This was an experimental game. We will explore the idea further and see how we can utilise this in generating more interest in Test cricket. But that has to be a policy decision and taken with all stakeholders (to make it a regular feature in home season)."