BCCI treasurer, Diana Edulji attack CoA chief over women's coach selection

While Edulji wanted Powar to continue at least till the New Zealand tour starting next month, Rai instructed the BCCI top brass to invite fresh applications for the position

The Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) has been divided over the coach selection process of the Indian women’s cricket team. On Thursday, Former opener WV Raman was preferred over former men’s team coach Gary Kirsten for the post and the entire procedure has worsened the situation within the Indian cricket board.

Diana Edulji, a former India captain, wrote to Rai Thursday morning, asking him to put the interview process on hold, but the CoA chief gave the go-ahead after taking former SC judge B M Srikrishna's opinion on the legality of the move.

“Your unilateral decision of appointing the ad hoc committee is not only unconstitutional but also illegal,” Edulji stated in her e-mail to Rai.

Besides Edulji, BCCI acting treasurer Anirudh Chaudhry has also questioned Rai on the selection process. With the Supreme Court's next hearing scheduled for January 17, the treasurer said it would have been appropriate to conduct the interviews after the hearing to avoid running into legal tangles.

“Would it not be appropriate to wait till the 17th of January, i.e., the next date of hearing before the SC and keep the present matter of coach selection in abeyance till then and have either (Ramesh) Powar continue or have someone else take charge till then?” Chaudhry wrote in his letter.

Chaudhry said the BCCI cannot approve an appointment in the current situation.

“Since there is no decision of the CoA in the matter of the selection of the coach, the process and an appointment if any in the present facts and circumstances are without jurisdiction and without authority and an appointment that may be a result of this process can in no manner be called an appointment for and on behalf of the BCCI,” wrote Chaudhary.

Chaudhry felt Edulji, who had earlier also called for the process of interviewing the candidates to be put on hold, is being circumvented by Rai's decision to go ahead with it.

“The email sent by Diana Edulji, member of the CoA, which was copied to the office bearers as well, has touched upon some very fundamental issues. It has given us an unprecedented insight into the working of the CoA, the professional management and the legal team of the BCCI,” Chaudhry wrote.

“I regret to state that it does not paint a rosy picture about the state of affairs with regard to the administration of BCCI. To put it mildly, the decision making seems irregular, the outcome of which may prove to be illegal. The execution, blind or otherwise, of those decisions, casts serious doubts on either the intention or the competence of those who execute it."

While Edulji wanted Powar to continue at least till the New Zealand tour starting next month, Rai instructed the BCCI top brass to invite fresh applications for the position which was left vacant after Ramesh Powar's brief stint as interim coach ended last month.