The two contenders to replace Jay Shah as BCCI secretary

The primary focal point of the BCCI's 93rd Annual General Meeting, to be held in Bengaluru on Sunday, will be to elect two representatives of India to the ICC meetings, as finding a successor to incumbent secretary Jay Shah is not on agenda.

The meeting assumes importance because the International Cricket Council has scheduled a conclave in Dubai at the end of the upcoming Women's T20 World Cup in the UAE.

The final of the marquee event is slated for October 20 in Dubai, and Shah will still be in the chair of the BCCI secretary on that date, as he will take over as ICC chairman from December 1.

After the tenure of Sourav Ganguly as BCCI president, usually Shah represented India in the ICC parleys and the last such instance was in Colombo earlier this July.

The current board president Roger Binny is the Alternate Director who can represent BCCI at the global body's meetings, but he seldom performs that duty.

With a year left in his tenure, it remains to be seen whether Binny will continue as the Alternate Director or someone else is nominated at the AGM for the role.

While the selection of the secretary is not listed, the members, who have assembled in Bengaluru also for the inauguration of the new National Cricket Academy complex near the international airport on Saturday, are certain to discuss among themselves the possible candidate to succeed Shah.

As things stand now, two names have been doing rounds for the post --

Anil Patel, the secretary of Gujarat Cricket Association and Rohan Jaitley, son of late Arun Jaitley and the president of the Delhi and District Cricket Association.

But it has been learned that Patel is the current frontrunner for the post which will be officially ratified at the Special General Meeting (SGM), and the date of which too is expected to be revealed after the AGM.

Other than that, the AGM will also ratify the induction of a representative from the Indian Cricketer's Association (ICA) and two from the General Body, appointment of sub-committees such as the Cricket Committee, besides approving the annual budget for the 2024-25 season.

The AGM will also ponder over the report submitted by the board's internal committee formed under the Prevention of Sexual Harassment Policy.

The IPL Governing Council meeting is also scheduled to convene on Saturday evening and the primary point of interest will be the decision pertaining to the retention rule.

It has been learnt that the board, after considering multiple suggestions from team owners, could be settling for five retention and one Right to Match option per team ahead of the IPL 2025 auction.

The BCCI had held a meeting with all the 10 IPL team owners in July to arrive at consensus on retention, as high-profile franchises like Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings have some high-value calls to make ahead of the auction, involving players such as Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

The date for the mega auction, most likely in the second week of November, too could be announced along with its venue.

It could not be immediately confirmed whether the decisions regarding the retention and auction will be made public after the day's meeting or after tabling it in Sunday's AGM for detailed discussion.