The Roger Binny saga begins in BCCI

Bengaluru, October 18: 1983 World Cup-winner Roger Binny was elected unanimously as the 36th president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) at its Annual General Body Meeting on Tuesday (October 18)

The 67-year-old, who has filed his nomination for the BCCI top post, has previously served as a member of the BCCI selection committee.

The other BCCI office bearers, who were elected unanimously include -- secretary Jay Shah, Ashish Shelar (treasurer), Rajeev Shukla (vice president) and Devajit Saikia (joint secretary).

Outgoing treasurer Arun Dhumal will be the new Indian Premier League (IPL) chairman as Birjesh Patel will turn 70 next month.

Binny's name appeared on the BCCI's draft electoral rolls for the elections and the Annual General Meeting (AGM) as a representative of the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) instead of its secretary Santosh Menon.

Roger Binny set to replace Sourav Ganguly as BCCI President; Here's full election panel list Roger Binny set to replace Sourav Ganguly as BCCI President; Here's full election panel list

Binny is the current president of KSCA.

The election of the new set of office-bearers was a formality as all were elected unapposed.

The other BCCI office bearers, who were elected unanimously include secretary Jay Shah, Ashish Shelar (treasurer), Rajeev Shukla (vice president) and Devajit Saikia (joint secretary).

Outgoing treasurer Arun Dhumal will be the new Indian Premier League (IPL) chairman as Birjesh Patel will turn 70 next month.

At BCCI, Binny replaced former India captain Sourav Ganguly, whose three-year tenure as the board chief came to end.

Ganguly will now contest for the Cricket Association of Bengal top post.

Outgoing BCCI chief Sourav Ganguly set to become CAB president, again Outgoing BCCI chief Sourav Ganguly set to become CAB president, again

World Cup star

Binny has represented India in 27 Tests and 72 One-day Internationals. He was one of the architects of India's historic World Cup triumph under Kapil Dev's captaincy in 1983.

In eight games at the Old Blighty he took 18 wickets, the highest in that edition of the tournament. Binny again starred for India at the 1985 World Championship of Cricket where he took 17 wickets and India lifted the trophy under the leadership of Sunil Gavaskar.

Unanimous decision

After hectic parleys and back-channel discussions the mantle of the top job of BCCI has fallen on Binny's shoulders. The election of the new set of office-bearers was a mere formality as all were set to be elected unopposed.

However, the member will deliberate if BCCI should field a candidate for the International Cricket Council (ICC) chair or support incumbent Greg Barclay for a second term.

Political twist

It took a political twist too in India, the world's largest democracy literally

Days after some of Trinamool Congress party members alleged that Ganguly was being targetted by the BJP-ruled central government, the Bengal CM claimed that the former India cricketer is being treated unfairly by the union government and appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to allow the outgoing BCCI president to contest in the upcoming ICC election.

Third former Test cricketer

For the records, Binny becomes the third former Test player to head the BCCI as the official president, after He is the third Test cricketer to head the BCCI after Maharaja of Vizianagaram and Ganguly.

Ganguly had initially been tipped to earn a second term as president after the Supreme Court's recent order relaxed cooling-off periods, but a spate of events have landed the top job to Binny!