BJP president Amit Shah, Sourav Ganguly and BCCI top brass may be sacked as cricket administrators

Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) is likely to oust Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) supremo Amit Shah from the post of president of Gujarat Cricket Association (GCA) along with his son Jay Shah who is the honorary secretary of the state cricket body. Former India captain Sourav Ganguly may also be removed as Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) president. 

The principal office bearers of the state units of the Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) are facing heat for "defying tenure and cooling off caps", according to Hindustan Times.

The top brass of the BCCI -- acting president CK Khanna, acting secretary Amitabh Chaudhary and treasurer Anirudh Chaudhary -- are also set to face exits. 

The CoA, which has been tasked with the responsibility of overseeing the operations of the world's richest cricket board, reportedly took the decision during a meeting held in Mumbai on Tuesday, February 27.

The two-member panel, headed by former Comptroller and Auditor-General of India Vinod Rai, is expected to file a status report in the apex court, mentioning its decision to remove the high-level office bearers who have "cumulatively completed three years as office bearers," according to the news report.

Principal officials of the state associations that have not implemented the Lodha Panel recommendations and the office bearers, who have served the cooling-off period (not more than three years during a single term), are likely to be sacked.

While Amit and Jay Shah are likely to be removed from their respective posts due to the completion of three-year tenures with the GCA, Ganguly is also likely to face the axe despite assuming office only on September 2015.

Ganguly had reportedly written to the BCCI saying the CAB was not able to implement the Lodha panel recommendations due to time constraints.

As of February 2018, 13 state associations (BCCI full members) have reportedly given written confirmation about their willingness to implement the panel's reforms. The likes of Maharashtra, Vidarbha and Tripura have already implemented the reforms.

BCCI's top trio under fire

Notably, the CoA had requested the apex court in August 2017 to remove the current office bearers of the BCCI, saying that the trio of Khanna, Amitabh and Anirudh "ought to removed" following their inability to ensure the implementation of Lodha panel reforms.

It has been nearly two years since the Supreme Court accepted most of Lodha panel's recommendations but not all the state associations in the country have implemented them.

A large section of the BCCI is refusing to accept the recommendations while the matter is still sub-judice. Clauses like one state one vote, three-year cooling-off period and a ban on government employees in cricket administration have faced opposition from some state associations.

The SC had scheduled a hearing on February 23 to monitor the implementation of Lodha recommendation, but it was postponed.

Deteriorating working relations

Also, mutual trust between the principal office bearers and the CoA has deteriorated over time.

The working relations between the two parties hit a new low when CoA chief Rai pulled up acting secretary Amitabh in February for initiating a move to host the first-ever day-night Test in India without consulting the apex court-appointed committee.