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BCCI Prepares for IPL Governing Council Elections
The Board of Control for Cricket in India has moved into election mode again, but this time the script looks almost entirely predictable.
Electoral Officer AK Joti has formally notified elections for two positions on the IPL Governing Council, to be held during the BCCI Annual General Meeting on September 18. The process is being conducted under Rule 28 of the BCCI Constitution, which governs how the powerful T20 league’s supervisory body is formed.
Familiar Faces, Short Terms
Rule 28 mandates that four members of the IPL Governing Council must come from the BCCI’s general body, with two of them elected at the AGM. Those two seats currently belong to Himachal Pradesh’s Arun Singh Dhumal, who also serves as chairman of the council, and Mizoram’s Khairul Jamal Majumdar.
Both are expected to retain their places without a fight.
Their terms, like all such GC positions under the current constitution, last just one year. That short tenure forces even entrenched figures back into the electoral process every season, even when there is no real opposition in sight. Dhumal and Majumdar must file their nominations on September 9 or 10. After scrutiny, the final list of candidates will be published on September 12.
Unless there is a late twist, that list will simply confirm what the corridors of power in Indian cricket already assume: both men will be re-elected unopposed.
Seven-Member Power Core
The IPL Governing Council remains one of the most influential committees in Indian sport. It is a compact group of seven, blending elected administrators with institutional nominees.
Alongside the four representatives from the BCCI general body, the council includes the BCCI CEO, a representative from the Indian Cricketers’ Association (ICA), and a nominee from the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG).
The other two general body representatives currently on the council are BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia and treasurer Raghuram Bhat. With Dhumal and Majumdar likely to continue, the composition of the GC appears set to roll over almost intact into another IPL cycle.
No Hidden Battles
The notification is explicitly limited to the IPL Governing Council posts. That single line carries weight.
It effectively shuts the door on any surprise ballot for higher offices or a sudden reshuffle at the top. There had been no serious expectation of upheaval, and this move underlines the stability — and continuity — the current leadership seems determined to project. All existing office-bearers are expected to carry on.
So while the word “election” suggests contest and uncertainty, this one looks more like a formal reaffirmation of the status quo.
Building the Electoral Roll
Behind the scenes, the machinery that underpins even a straightforward election is already in motion.
The Electoral Officer has invited all Full Members of the BCCI to submit applications naming their representatives for inclusion in the Electoral Roll. Those representatives, drawn from the state associations attending the AGM, will form the voting pool on September 18.
State units were asked to begin nominating their delegates from August 25, with August 31 set as the deadline. Any objections to those nominations will be examined before the final Electoral Roll is released on September 8.
By then, the voters will be known, the candidates almost certainly confirmed, and the AGM will be left to rubber-stamp what Indian cricket’s power structure has already decided in practice.
The real question is not who will sit on the IPL Governing Council this year, but how long this era of quiet, uncontested continuity at the top of Indian cricket will last.
