BCCI

BCCI Full Form Name

Full Form of BCCI :

Board of Control for Cricket in India

BCCI Full Form refers to the Board of Control for Cricket in India.  BCCI governs the game of cricket at the national level. It was established in 1928 as a small society and is currently a well-established board, supporting and promoting the game of cricket in India. CCI organizes various domestic level competitions such as; corporate trophy, Irani cup, Ranji trophy, Deodhar trophy, IPL or Indian Premier League, and more.

B It is in fact, the riches cricket board in the world and the richest sporting body in India. It has constitution that conducts annual elections at the Annual meetings for various posts. BCCI takes charge of various responsibilities like controlling the game in national level, organize various matches in the national and International level; take controls of the representatives; settle inter-territorial misunderstandings etc.

BCCI Full Form – Additional Information

Cricket is a sensation in the sports world. It particularly enjoys a cyclopean reputation in England, the Indian Subcontinent, South Africa, and Australia, making it one of the most watched sports in the world. What the magnitude of fan following it enjoys in these regions is more than just devotion; it often transcends those boundaries and becomes a religion.

Those who are into cricket or reside in any other the aforementioned regions could very well understand this. Thus, it is a religion to a substantial number of fans. Since it has attained such religious following, there is BCCI, which stands for Board of Control for Cricket in India. It is a regulatory body that was founded with the purpose of overseeing the organization, players, and other related activities of the sports. It has acquired a national status and acts as a representative of Indian cricket to the international body of cricket, International Cricket Council (abbreviated as ICC).

There are many facets involved in the functioning of Board of Control of Cricket in India, which will hereinafter refer to as BCCI throughout the article, that need to be understood substantially for the purpose of acquiring greater appreciation. This should be particularly interesting to those who follow cricket. So under this article, we shall have a discussion on some of the facets of BCCI, which have contributed immensely to structuring and organization of Indian cricket.

Though mired in controversy lately, BCCI nevertheless remains an important functionary in the field of cricket. We shall begin with an introductory segment, which shall be followed by a segment on history that led to the establishment of BCCI and then followed by other segments. Let us begin with an introductory segment on BCCI.

Introduction to BCCI

As mentioned above, BCCI is an important body that is responsible for the governance of cricket in India. It is a national governing body. The board was officially founded in the month December in the year 1928 and was registered as a society. It was registered as a society under the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act. The body brings together different state level cricket associations, which chose their representative in the body.

These representatives eventually become officials in BCCI. The body has its headquarters in Mumbai city, in the state of Maharashtra. The BCCI is affiliated with the international governing body of cricket, the International Cricket Council (abbreviated as ICC).

The body uses a logo that derives its inspiration from the emblem of the Order of the Star of India, which was used as a national emblem for India during the occupation of the British empire in India. Now that we have briefly discussed BCCI in general, let us move to the next segment that deals with the history behind the establishment of Board.

History behind the establishment of BCCI

BCCI is not a recently established body and has its foundational roots from the British rule. It is in the public domain that it was the British that brought cricket to India. With time, it grew to be a popular sport in the country and this made the British administration come up with a proposal on a body that would take on the task of administering and regulating cricket in the country. This started the journey of BCCI in the country. Let us trace the historical roots.

An All India cricket team made a visit to England in the year 1912. The visit was captained and sponsored by Maharaja of Patiala. In the year 1926, a visit was made by the representatives from the Calcutta Cricket Club to London with the purpose of attending meetings conducted by the Imperial Cricket Conference.

The Imperial Cricket Conference is regarded as the parent to the present International Cricket Council. These representatives were not designated as official representatives but were nevertheless allowed to attend the conference with the permission of Lord Harris. The result of the conference was that a decision was made to send to India a cricket team under the leadership of Arthur Gilligan, who was known to have captained The Ashes.

A meeting was conducted by the Maharaja of Patiala and others where Arthur Gilligan made a promise that he would vouch for the inclusion in the ICC provided that all the promoters of the game in India should come together to found a single body that controls cricket. With an assurance given, a meeting was organized on November 21, 1927, which was attended by many delegates coming from regions such as Sindh, Delhi, Patiala, Punjab, United Provinces, Rajputana, Bhopal, Gwalior, Kathiawar, Baroda, Central India, and Alwar.

In that meeting, an agreement was reached upon that a board for the regulation of cricket in the country will be founded. In the month of December 1927, a decision was unanimously reached upon that a board for the control of cricket shall be provisionally formed. In the following year, The BCCI was officially registered as a society under the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act. In the formative years, six cricket associations were affiliated with it. The first elected president was R.E. Grant Govan and the secretary was Anthony de Mello.

Since then, the journey of the board started. It started sending teams to various tournaments, which made it a prominent body domestically and internationally. Now that we have discussed the history of the establishment and early formative years of BCCI, we shall move to other aspects that pertain to various tournaments organized by the BCCI in the domestic domain.

Domestic Cricket

The BCCI takes up the responsibility of organizing various domestic tournaments regularly. These tournaments are a part of the regular exercise to promote domestic participation in cricket activities from different corners of the country. Many of these tournaments have attained immense reputation. Some of the tournaments are Irani Cup, Deodhar Trophy, Duleep Trophy, BCCI Corporate Trophy, Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, Vijay Hazare Trophy, Indian Premier League, BCCI Corporate Trophy, and NKP Salve Challenger Trophy.

Working committee of BCCI

The BCCI is considered to be the richest governing body in the country as well as the richest regulatory board for cricket in the world. The constitution of the BCCI is the ground norm, in compliance with which the whole body functions and administers the activities of cricket. As per the constitution of BCCI, there are annual elections held at every Annual General Meeting (abbreviated as AGM) for every position on the board.

There exists a limitation on the re-election of the current president after two consecutive years however, this comes with a proviso. The proviso provides that there is discretion on the part of the General Body as far as the re-election is concerned. This body can re-elect a person as President for the third term consecutively.

In the organization of the Board, there is a working committee where members assume key posts vital to the overall functioning and administration of cricket. Under this segment, we shall state some of those key persons, who are an integral part of the constitution of the working committee.

• Shashank Manohar, who currently holds the position of president to the BCCI.
• Anurag Singh Thakur, who is the present honorary secretary of the board.
• Then we have, Amitabh Choudhary, who is the current honorary joint secretary in the board.
• Anirudh Chaudhry is the current honorary treasury in the board.
• G Gangaraju holds the position of vice president, who looks after the south region.
• M L Nehru, who is also the vice president but shoulders responsibility with respect to the north region.
• T C Mathew is the current vice president for the western region of the country.
• Gautam Roy is the vice president for the east corridor.
• C K Khanna is the vice president for the central region.

Then, there are permanent test centers that include Tamil Nadu Cricket Association, Cricket Association of Bengal, Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association, Delhi & District Cricket Association, and Mumbai Cricket Association.

All these aforementioned persons and association associate together in the working committee to work out plans for the board in respect of various cricket related activities happening inside and outside the country. Most of the persons in the board are influential persons, business tycoons, politicians, retired sports persons, etc that add sensation to the constitution of the working committee.

Finances of the BCCI

Now we come to one of the most important aspects of BCCI: the Finances of the board. It is one of the most widely recognized and most influential cricket boards in the world. The source of its finances is, therefore, any interesting topic.

It would be surprising for many to know that BCCI is not depending on the financial resources from the Government of India. The international media rights pertaining to International cricket (that are held in India) is awarded to Star India, a Rupert Murdoch production House for six years. For three years, the kit sponsorship rights were given to Nike for a handsome sum of money.

BCCI avoids taxes on the ground that it is a charitable institution and thus, exempted from tax. However, subsequently in the year 2007, the Income Tax Department rejected this ground and taxed BCCI. Nevertheless, BCCI only paid Rs. 41.9 crores against Rs. 413 crores, which was its actual tax liability for the financial year 2009-2010.

Now you know from where BCCI obtains its financial resources. Sponsorship is an important area for the BCCI to remain functional and avoid any dearth of financial resources. Considering the value of sponsorship it receives, it is no wonder that BCCI is among the wealthiest boards in the world or rather the wealthiest cricket board in the world. Even the ICC could not match its mammoth presence in the cricket regulation.

This brings us to the next segment, which will deal with the relationship of BCCI with the International Cricket regulatory Body, ICC. Under that head, we shall explore the nuances that prevail in the relation between the two monumental cricket organizations.

Relationship with ICC

The relationship between ICC and BCCI can be traced back to the times when Imperial Cricket Council existed. Every since these two boards have collaborated to bring out the best in cricket at an international level. However, not everything is sweet between them as there have been certain disagreements between ICC and BCCI over certain matters, which shall be highlighted under this segment for our discussion.

In the year 2009, BCCI and ICC came into a disagreement over the issue of WADA “whereabouts clause” WADA stands for the World Anti-Doping Agency, which is an organization created as an initiative by none other than International Olympic Committee (abbreviated as IOC).

Another disagreement that still lingers is the Umpire Decision Review System (abbreviated as UDRS), which is proposed by ICC. Sources state that BCCI has often used its position to influence many decisions of the ICC. The areas where BCCI has exercised such influences include appointments in ICC, suspension of players and scheduling of matches.

Many might question as to how an affiliated body manages to exercise so much influence over an International body. The answer lies in India being a big market for international cricket revenue. This fact gives immense weight to the BCCI over the decision-making process of ICC.

Many reports suggest that there are “Big Threes” in the world of cricket and those are the ECB, BCCI, and Cricket Australia. These “big three” are big economic players in the cricket market and therefore, exercise immense influence upon the functioning of the ICC. This has been often seen as unfair in respect of other affiliated bodies.