Gautam Gambhir Ineligible To Become CAC Member

Recent media reports suggested that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) approached World Cup winners Madan Lal and Gautam Gambhir to be a part of the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC). Later, both the former cricketers also expressed their willingness to be a part of the panel. Along with the two, Sulakshana Naik is also in contention to be a part of the committee.

According to The Hindu, Madan Lal, who won the World Cup with India in 1983 and also served as India coach in the 1990s, said he is “willing to contribute to Indian cricket in every possible way”, Gambhir said he has given his consent to the BCCI.

The CAC’s formation has been delayed since the new BCCI dispensation headed by Sourav Ganguly has made a plea to the Supreme Court seeking relaxation in the Conflict of Interest clause. As of now, there has been no major update on when will be the panel formed.

The first CAC appointed in 2015 included Sachin Tendulkar, V.V.S. Laxman and Ganguly. After the conflict clause came into place, all the three backed out. As a result, an interim panel was appointed with Kapil Dev as the chairman. The panel had re-appointed Ravi Shastri as the head coach before resigning.

Gautam Gambhir ineligible:

While reports suggest that Gautam Gambhir is likely to be a part of the CAC, the former India opener is ineligible for the post. The high-profile governing council of the Indian Premier League will take place on Monday in New Delhi.  During the meeting, the principal office bearers of the BCCI, including president Sourav Ganguly and secretary Jay Shah, are expected to finalize the three-member Cricket Advisory Committee.

According to PTI, both Gautam Gambhir and Sulakshana Naik might not be eligible as the former, apart from retiring in the 2018-19 season, is also a Member of Parliament (MP), which could disqualify him as per Lodha Committee norms. Naik also last played domestic cricket in 2018-19 and for anyone to be a member of CAC, he or she needs to be retired from active cricket for at least five years.

With the Supreme Court yet to hear the BCCI matter, the office bearers would like to appoint ex-players who are not conflicted. In that case, both Naik and Gautam Gambhir are unlikely to be part of the CAC.

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