Mumbai: Mithun Manhas is likely to become the president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The former Delhi captain filed his nomination for the post that fell vacant after former Indian cricketer Roger Binny’s resignation in August. Manhas, who filed his nomination barely hours ahead of the deadline on Sunday is the only candidate for the top post, according to ESPNcricinfo.
BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla had been operating as the interim president of the Board since Binny left. Raghuraman Bhat, former Indian spinner, is likely to be appointed the treasurer. He is currently the president of the Karnataka State Cricket Association.
Forty-five-year-old Manhas has been closely involved in cricket administration. He is part of the BCCI-appointed sub-committee that oversees the Jammu & Kashmir Cricket Association. Born in Jammu, he shifted from Delhi to Jammu and Kashmir in 2015 before retiring the following year.
Post-retirement, he served in several coaching roles, including with Indian Premier League (IPL) teams Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Punjab Kings, and Gujarat Titans. He also worked as batting consultant with Bangladesh Under-19.
Manhas had an impressive domestic career, playing 157 first-class matches between 1997 and 2017 and scoring 9,714 runs. He also played 130 List A games (4,126 runs) and 91 T20s (1,170 runs), making him one of the most prolific batters in India’s domestic circuit.
“A new body is being made for the next term. Mithun Manhas is a former player and it was decided to make him the president. Arun Dhumal is the chairman of the IPL governing council and he will continue in that position,” Shukla told the media, as reported by The New Indian Express.
Manhas’ name came during an informal meeting in Delhi on Saturday, which was attended by several key figures, including ICC chairman Jay Shah, Shukla, BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia, Delhi and Districts Cricket Association (DDCA) president Rohan Jaitley and former board secretary Niranjan Shah, ESPNcricinfo reported.
The elections for various office bearers are scheduled to take place during the BCCI’s annual general meeting in Mumbai on September 28. However, unless new nominations surface, the names discussed in the Delhi meeting are set to be final.
It is understood that Devajit Saikia will continue as BCCI secretary, while Shukla is set to remain vice-president. Current treasurer Prabhtej Bhatia is expected to assume the role of joint secretary, replacing Rohan Desai. Meanwhile, former Saurashtra skipper Jaydev Shah is set to join the Apex Council, in place of Mizoram’s Khairul Jamal Majumdar, who is likely to move to the IPL Governing Council.