Ramachandra Guha Resigns as BCCI Admin Citing Personal Reasons

Guha said he tendered his resignation to Vinod Rai, Chairman of Committee of Administrators.

Ramachandra Guha has resigned from the post of one of the BCCI administrators. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

Historian Ramachandra Guha, appointed by the Supreme Court as one of the four administrators of BCCI, informed the court on 1 June that he had resigned from the post for ‘personal reasons’.

A vacation bench of Justices MM Shantanagoudar and Deepak Gupta, was informed by Guha's counsel that he had tendered his resignation on 28 May to Vinod Rai, Chairman of the Committee of Administrators of the Board of Control for Cricket in India.

The court said a special bench was seized of the matter and the petition should therefore be filed in the registry. 

Specific reasons for his resignation will be mentioned in the affidavit, reported CNN News18. The four-member committee of administrators appointed by the Supreme Court on 30 January, headed by former Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) Vinod Rai, to run the affairs of the BCCI, is yet to put into effect all the court-approved recommendations of the Justice RM Lodha panel.

Advocate Rakesh Sinha, who mentioned the matter before the bench, said he had filed the petition to inform the court about Guha's decision to resign, as the main matter would be coming up for hearing in July.

COA Members In The Dark

Guha’s submission to the Supreme Court states that he had intimated committee head Vinod Rai, his COA colleagues appear to be unaware of his decision. Former Indian women cricket captain Diana Edulji, the other BCCI administrator, told the Hindustan Times: “I don’t know whether this is true or not. His phone is switched off and I haven’t been able to speak to him. The three of us (in the CoA) are not aware about this”.

Asked whether Guha’s exit would interrupt the COA’s plans, she was quoted as saying:

It is shocking. I will not comment over it. We will see when we cross the bridge.

Is Kumble To Blame For Resignation?

The acclaimed historian failed to attend half of the COA meetings due to his academic commitments, PTI reported.

He has a thorough knowledge of sports history and is a learned man. But running cricket administration is a different ballgame. In any case, whether it’s ICC or BCCI matters, it’s Vinod Rai and Vikram Limaye, who were doing the hard yards.

Senior BCCI official

Many in the BCCI feel that Guha's proximity to Kumble may also be one of the reasons why the historian was one of the brains behind the revamped pay structure idea.

Guha was allegedly unhappy about Kumble’s uncertain future as the Indian cricket team’s coach after reports of a rift between him and captain Virat Kohli emerged.

One is right that Anil Kumble did not voluntarily ask for pay hike. He was certainly told by COA to give a presentation. But the seeds of this idea were sown during the BCCI Annual Awards function in Bengaluru. Guha was one of the advocates of hike but he was clueless about percentages and rationale that goes in financial dealings.

Senior BCCI Official

Guha has written some of the most revered books on cricket like ‘Wickets In the East’ and ‘Corner of a foreign Field’. He has been a vocal critic of the IPL and ironically, as a part of COA, needed to be present during some of the IPL meetings.

Vikram Limaye, Managing Director of Infrastructure Development Finance Company (IDFC) was the other administrators appointed by the Supreme Court. Neither among Guha, Vinod Rai or Vikram Limaye have charged a single penny from the BCCI even though they are entitled to a payment of Rs 1 lakh per person per working day.

(With inputs from PTI and Hindustan Times.)