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A round-up of the third day’s play from Group C matches, with Kerala setting Chhattisgarh a 328-run target and Tripura building on their slender advantage

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Oct-2016Fifties from Paras Dogra (57) and Robin Bist (50 not out) helped Himachal Pradesh rebound from their dismal first-innings score of 36 to take a 142-run lead over Hyderabad on the third day in Guwahati. Himachal scored 232 for 6 in their second innings, having dismissed Hyderabad for 126 earlier in the day.Hyderabad resumed from 99 for 7 before their innings was wrapped up quickly by Mayank Dagar, Gurvinder Singh and Rishi Dhawan, who finished with a career-best innings haul of 7 for 50. Dhawan, who had taken a six-for on the previous day, bagged the wicket of Balchander Anirudh who scored 64 of his side’s 126 runs.Ankush Bains contributed a 21-ball 35 at the top of the order for Himachal in their second innings before Dogra, Bist and Sumeet Verma steadied the innings through half-century stands. Verma and Dogra added 59 for the third wicket, before a 65-run partnership for the fourth wicket between Dogra and Bist. Dogra’s 101-ball knock included seven fours, while Bist had played 113 balls until stumps.Shubham Rohilla’s 72 not out steered Haryana to 122 for 3 in their chase of 371 against Andhra at Wankhede Stadium. Earlier Andhra were restricted to 220, after having taken a 150-run first-innings lead. Hanuma Vihari scored 50, and a cameo of 42 from D Siva Kumar pushed their total to 220 after they were struggling at 136 for 6 at one stage on the third day.Rohilla and Rajat Paliwal steadied Haryana’s chase with a 67-run partnership for the third wicket after two wickets had fallen by the 14th over with the score on 48.File photo: Rohan Prem’s 11th first-class century gave Kerala a chance of recording their first win this season•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Batsman Rohan Prem’s century helped Kerala set Chhattisgarh a target of 328 in Jamshedpur. Chhattisgarh ended the day on 15 for 0 in 11 overs.Prem, who had scored 62 in the first innings, remained unbeaten on 123 when Kerala declared their second innings at 307 for 2. He also shared an unbroken third-wicket stand of 125 runs with Sachin Baby who was not out on 70 off 86 balls.Early on the third day, Kerala limited Chhattisgarh for 187 to take a 20-run lead. K Monish took a four-for, while Iqbal Abdulla had returns of 3 for 26. Prem and Baby then built on solid partnerships in Kerala’s top order. Opener VA Jagadeesh scored 45 before retiring hurt while Bhavin Thakkar scored 37.Centuries from the overnight pair of Shubham Khajuria and Ian Dev Singh helped Jammu & Kashmir pile on 379 for 6 against Services on the third day in Jaipur. They ended the day trailing Services’ score of 477 by 98 runs.Having added 55 on the second day, Khajuria and Ian Dev extended their partnership to 179 before they were separated. Khajuria was dismissed by Vikas Yadav for a 257-ball 111, his second first-class century. Ian Dev was the next wicket to fall, but not before he had added 62 with Bandeep Singh for the fourth wicket. Ian Dev’s 24-ball 120 was his 13th first-class hundred. After their wickets, Parvez Rasool saw the side through to stumps, finishing on 41 not out.A 98-run eighth-wicket partnership between Rajat Dey (56*) and Gurinder Singh (41) helped Tripura stretch a slender 14-run first-innings lead over Goa to 240 in Bhubaneswar. The partnership rescued Tripura from 128 for 7 to 226 for 7 after Shadab Jakati’s 5 for 42 had cut through the batting order.Jakati had troubled Tripura with the bat earlier in the day. Goa resumed the third day at 220 for 8, trailing Tripura by 63 runs but Jakati’s stubborn 47, and his last-wicket partnership of 30 with Felix Alemao, whittled the deficit down to 14 runs. Jakati’s 47 came off 76 balls with six fours and a six.

West Indies’ mix of high-speed hustle with the ball and patience with the bat help them beat pre-tournament favourites India by five wickets in a tense final in Mirpur

The Report by Mohammad Isam in Mirpur14-Feb-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAn unbroken sixth-wicket stand of 69 between Keemo Paul and Keacy Carty helped West Indies clinch a last-over thriller•Getty Images

West Indies’ mix of high-speed hustle with the ball and patience with the bat help them beat pre-tournament favourites India by five wickets in a tense final in Mirpur to lift their maiden Under-19 World Cup title.India, who were bowled out for 145, held their own and fought till the end admirably until Keemo Paul and Keacy Carty’s ice-cool approach helped West Indies eat into the target and eventually cross the line with three balls to spare. That meant India lost a Youth ODI for the first time since their quarterfinal exit of the same tournament in 2014.India’s crash began with Rishabh Pant wandering outside his crease, only to find wicketkeeper Tevin Imlach flick an underarm throw back to the stumps to catch him unaware. Imlach’s match awareness that gave them a breakthrough off the fourth ball of the morning set the tone for a dominating display against a batting unit high on confidence.Anmolpreet Singh, who had done well in the two knockout games prior to the grand finale fell next as he was unable to get his bat out of the way to a rising Alzarri Joseph delivery in the third over, as he gloved a nick to the wicketkkeeper. Then came a blow that ended Ishan Kishan’s run of poor scores as he played across the line and was trapped lbw, even though replays showed the ball had pitched just outside leg stump. When Washington Sundar chipped a simple catch to mid-off, a top order wobble seemed complete at 41 for 4 in the 15th over.India needed a rescue act, but West Indies didn’t drop their intensity even by an inch as Arman Jaffer found out while driving away to the cover fielder to leave Sarfaraz Khan with the unenviable task of reviving the innings and batting through, like he had done for most parts of the tournament.He did so by adding 37 with Mahipal Lomror, who sweetly timed two fours in his 43-ball 19. Even as a recovery looked a sudden possibility came yet another blow as Chemar Holder, who was brought back in for a new spell, sent him back with an awaygoing delivery that was well pouched by Imlach behind the stumps.Sensing the inevitable, Sarfaraz tried to break the shackles and found his hitting range, sweetly timing a flick over midwicket for six. He also brought up a half-century off 83 deliveries before perishing in an effort to up the ante. While he was clearly far from his best, Sarfaraz was still miles ahead with his judgment in lengths.With India collapsing in heaps, the inaccuracy of the West Indies bowlers went unnoticed as they conceded as many as 23 extras by the time India’s innings came to a grinding hat in 45.1 overs.Any thoughts of a regulation chase was quickly put on the backburner as India came back hard; West Indies slipping from 67 for 2 to 77 for 5 in the 29th over. The man who orchestrated the comeback was Mayank Dagar, the left-arm spinner, who teased the batsmen with his gentle flight and drift.Shimron Hetmyer, the captain, lofted one to long-on, while Shamar Springer top-edged a hoick to long-off. In Dagar’s next over, Jyd Goolie’s attempt to blast him down the ground ended up in a sharp caught and bowled, making West Indies lose their third wicket in six overs.Paul and Carty had to dig deep. That Carty had an opportunity to do so was courtesy a reprieve when Sarfaraz put down a sharp chance at slip off Dagar. But the pair battled slowly to ensure India’s biggest threat was safely negotiated.As the innings progressed, India began to get edgy as Pant failed to hold on to a thin edge off Carty in Dagar’s last over. As if to break the shackles, he was lofted down the ground for six in the same over. Slowly, the equation boiled down to 24 off the last five overs.With nine needed off the last two overs, Paul’s attempted inside-out hit over cover resulted in him hitting one towards Avesh Khan, who put down a tough chance even as the ball was dying on him. Carty then reached a half-century off 122 balls. By then, the celebration had well and truly begun in the West Indies camp. The party had kickstarted in earnest when Paul’s top edge flew over the keeper’s head to bring an end to a pulsating clash.

Shaharyar Khan has said the PCB wants the FTP to be drawn up by the ICC, as was the case previously, instead of the new system by which series are scheduled via bilateral agreements

Umar Farooq26-Nov-2015Shaharyar Khan, the PCB chairman, has said the board wants the Future Tours Programme to be drawn up by the ICC, as was the case previously, instead of the new system by which series are scheduled via bilateral agreements. Khan stressed that this was essential for equality among the Full Members, and one of the main reasons why the PCB had vehemently opposed the constitutional revamping of the ICC last year.Khan’s comments come in wake of the new ICC chairman Shashank Manohar criticising the imbalance of power within cricket’s governing body because of last year’s revamp. Manohar, who replaced the out-of-favour N Srinivasan before his scheduled term was over, called the revamp “bullying”. He said there were several faults in the ICC that he hoped to rectify during his term as chairman, which ends in June 2016.Khan agreed with Manohar, pointing out to ESPNcricinfo that the PCB was the main opponent of the move when it was proposed. “We have two basic principles: everyone should be equal, and the FTP should be carefully handled. It should have the previous formula with ICC arranging series and not bilateral arrangements. Otherwise we are letting some countries suffer – some countries that don’t want to play the minor ones because playing them isn’t a lucrative deal.”Khan said that the PCB was outvoted 9-1 during the revamp by the other Full Members. He said the ICC wanted to present a united front on the revamp and offered Pakistan “lucrative series” against India as compensation. “They said we are already outvoted by 9-1, but look we want to show the world a unanimous decision. Then they offered us very lucrative series against India, as you know six series between 2015 and 2023,” Khan said. “Then we signed an agreement [for the series] before we agreed to sign the new constitution.”It was obvious that we were a reluctant supporter of the Big Three. Many people interpreted that this was because of the relations between India and Pakistan. It is always perceived that whatever we do, they oppose it, and whatever they do, we oppose. But this is not really correct as the boards have always had cordial relations. We opposed it because the Big Three should not monopolise the cricketing ties with each other – they were anticipating playing only lucrative series and countries like Zimbabwe, New Zealand were left to find their own bilateral series which obviously are not as lucrative.”Khan said he was encouraged by Manohar’s comments, even as the PCB is negotiating on the terms of the first of those six promised bilateral series with the BCCI. He expected the BCCI to honour that agreement.”We still feel that the Big Three formula is not ideal, but since we have signed it we will go along with this and be faithful to it. We signed on the basis that India will play us – that was the agreement. So we expect to play. But if there is any move initiated to revise the constitution to a more democratic formula, we will of course support it.”The PCB’s opposition to the revamp was led by the then chairman Zaka Ashraf. “The formula was clearly violating the principle of equality and with such a big international organisation, everyone should be equally treated rather than allowing the big ones to dictate everything,” Ashraf said.”The entire revamp was never really discussed, just brought in and forced on every board or else they would be isolated. Everyone obviously wants to play and they [the ones who opposed the proposals] were given lucrative offers to get to them on their [the Big Three’s] sides.”

Derbyshire’s groundstaff were cleared of any blame after the third day of the LV= County Championship Division Two match against Gloucestershire was abandoned without a ball bowled.

ECB/PA02-Jun-2015
ScorecardThe covers couldn’t stand the wind at Derby•Getty Images

Derbyshire’s groundstaff were cleared of any blame after the third day of the LV= County Championship Division Two match against Gloucestershire was abandoned without a ball bowled. High winds on Monday night had torn a section of the covers, allowing water to saturate a small area where the bowler’s feet land and make it too dangerous for the game to resume.Umpires Tim Robinson and Steve Garrett hoped the area would dry out in the sun and wind but after a fourth inspection at 3.15pm, they decided it was still unfit for play. Both Derbyshire and Gloucestershire backed the decision to call the game off for the day and the teams will now hope for decent weather on Wednesday to try to force a result.”There was a severe weather warning issued for overnight on Monday and when we got to the ground this morning, it wasn’t fit for play,” Derbyshire’s elite performance director Graeme Welch said. “We had a similar problem at Cardiff earlier in the season and that was on a smaller area. This one is where the bowler’s feet are landing and, put it this way, if my bowlers had been due to run in I wouldn’t have wanted them to bowl on that, it’s quite dangerous.”Gloucestershire head coach Richard Dawson agreed with Welch’s assessment, adding: “It’s one of those situations where it’s no-one’s fault, there was howling wind and rain and you can’t do anything about it. The covers had got blown about with the power of the wind and the footholds were just mud. There was nothing the groundstaff could have done, they tried their best today so hats off to them but that’s the English weather. Who would have thought it was June!”Gloucestershire were in a good position to put Derbyshire under pressure and Dawson added: “It’s frustrating because I think we’ve bowled well and it would have been interesting if we could have got a full day in but we will have a crack and see if we can get a victory tomorrow.”

Sean Ervine has pulled out of Zimbabwe’s squad for the World Cup, and will remain at Hampshire in 2011

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Jan-2011Sean Ervine has pulled out of Zimbabwe’s squad for the World Cup, and will remain at Hampshire in 2011. Ervine, who had been named in both the preliminary and finalised squads for the tournament, had a change of heart shortly before the national team were due to depart for a training camp in Dubai.”After having had time to reflect on all of the circumstances, I have realised that this is not the right time to leave Hampshire,” said Ervine. “I have a great relationship with this club and its supporters and I feel like part of a family. I feel Hampshire is my home; so much so that I am planning to get married there next year. I do not, therefore, want to be away for long periods of time.”It had appeared certain that Ervine would part ways with Hampshire to reignite his international career, which he described as his “ultimate goal”, but his decision not to play for Zimbabwe means he will not be considered an overseas player – a position filled by legspinner Imran Tahir at Hampshire – and will therefore be eligible to play for the county in all forms of the game in 2011. Ervine had proved a success in his six years with the club, helping the team to three trophies, scoring 3,956 first-class runs and taking 118 first class wickets in the process.”We are very happy that Sean has come to this conclusion,” said Hampshire manager Giles White. “He is an important and highly-valued cricketer who is popular with everyone associated with The Rose Bowl and central to our plans for the future.”Alistair Campbell, the head of Zimbabwe’s selection panel and former national captain, expressed his disappointment at Ervine’s withdrawal. “Zimbabwe Cricket was very excited about Sean coming back into the setup. However, he may not have realised that international cricket is a lot harder than he remembers,” Campbell said in a ZC statement.”He has lived a very comfortable life in county cricket for the last six years and obviously decided at the last minute he might not be up to the challenges of international cricket after all. A lot of people have gone to a lot of effort to make it happen for Sean. Although is very late in the day to change his mind, it is better than realising his mistake during the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011.”ZC has approached the ICC Event Technical Committee to seek approval for batsman Tino Mawoyo to replace Ervine in the squad. An opening batsman, Mawoyo played two one-day internationals against Bangladesh in 2006 and is a regular in the Zimbabwe A line-up. He had been named as a non-travelling reserve for the World Cup before Ervine’s last-minute departure. Craig Ervine, Sean’s younger brother, remains part of Zimbabwe’s squad.

The BCCI has appointed Amit Shah as the second physio of the Indian team, to support Nitin Patel

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Oct-2010The BCCI has appointed Amit Shah as the second physio of the Indian team, to support Nitin Patel. India have had to contend with a growing list of injured players in recent times, and the inclusion of Shah will ease the burden on the team’s support staff.”Amit Shah has joined Team India as its second physio. He and Nitin Patel will now work together,” a BCCI official informed . Shah was Kolkata Knight Riders’ pyhsio during the third edition of the IPL. He was reportedly sent an SOS by the Indian team following an increasing list of fitness concerns during the ongoing Mohali Test against Australia.India’s biggest injury worry going into the final day of the first Test is VVS Laxman, who has endured back spasms through the match, forcing him to bat below his usual position in the first innings. It remains to be seen whether he bats in the second. Ishant Sharma has also struggled, with a leg niggle that allowed him to bowl just 11.4 overs in the first innings.

India batter backs the next generation to carry forward the strong performances in ICC tournaments

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Mar-2025Virat Kohli believes India have a squad “ready to take on the world” for the next eight years, following their victory in the Champions Trophy final against New Zealand in Dubai.”When you leave, you want to leave the team in a better place, I feel we’ve a squad that’s ready to take on the world for the next eight years,” Kohli said on the broadcast after the game. “Shubman [Gill] has been outstanding, Shreyas [Iyer] beautiful, KL [Rahul] has finished games, and Hardik [Pandya] has been superb with the bat.”Kohli said the Champions Trophy triumph somewhat made up for India’s Test series loss in Australia. “It’s been amazing. We wanted to bounce back after a tough Australian tour, and wanted to win a big tournament, and we ended up doing that. So it’s an amazing feeling.”Related

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Standing beside Gill during the celebrations, Kohli was asked for his thoughts on leaving the dressing room a better place when he eventually finishes up. “There’s so much talent in the dressing room,” he said. “They’re trying to take their game further and we [seniors] are just happy to be of help, sharing our experience and that’s what makes this Indian team so strong.”These are the things you want to play for [titles], playing under pressure and putting your hand up. The whole team, everyone has put their hands up sometimes or other during the course of the tournament. Everyone has put up impactful performances, we’ve been part of an amazing team, the amount of work we’ve done in the practice sessions, it feels great.”Kohli had words of appreciation for New Zealand. “Amazing, we’ve always been in awe with what they can do with the limited number of players they have had over the years, and just maximise their talent,” he said. “Every time we played against them in big games, we knew they were going to come with a set plan. No team in world cricket executes plans as well as they do.”Every fielder knows where the bowler is going to bowl, you can sense it, they’re all attacking the ball, they know the bowler is going to be accurate. Credit to them for being the most consistent team in the last few tournaments. The reason for that is the immense belief in their skills, and the amount of talent they have they utilise that to the maximum.”They’re easily the best fielding side in the world, a huge shout-out to them. They continue to display why they are one of the top teams in the world. Again, a great campaign. It’s sad to see a very good friend [Kane Williamson] on the losing side, but I’ve been on the losing side a couple of times when he has been on the winning side, so only love between us.”

Finalising the playing XI for the second Test will be on Gambhir’s agenda once he is back with the touring party

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Dec-2024Gautam Gambhir, India’s head coach, will rejoin the touring party in Australia on Tuesday, having flown out of India after having returned home because of “personal reasons”.Gambhir missed India’s two-day tour game – which was later reduced to a limited-overs contest following rain on the first day – against the Australian Prime Minister’s XI in Canberra, having flown back home at the conclusion of the first Test in Perth on November 25. Gambhir left on November 26, the scheduled final day of that Test.The second Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, a day-nighter in Adelaide, will start on December 6.Related

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In Gambhir’s absence, the support staff of Abhishek Nayar, Ryan ten Doeschate and Morne Morkel had overseen the team’s training, and were part of the Canberra fixture, which the Indians won by six wickets, with Harshit Rana (4 for 44) and Shubman Gill (50 in 62 balls) playing key roles.Now, Gambhir will have to be part of the tricky discussions around India’s playing XI, with Rohit Sharma, the full-time Test captain, having linked up with the team after skipping the first Test to be with his wife for the birth of their second child. Jasprit Bumrah had led India to the comprehensive 295-run win in the Perth Test in Rohit’s absence.Gill, who had also missed that Test after fracturing his right thumb during a training session, is also back in the reckoning.Even if India bring in Rohit and Gill for Devdutt Padikkal and Dhruv Jurel, who were part of the XI in Perth, there is the question of the opening combination, with Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul having put on a double-century first-wicket stand in India’s second innings in Perth. Indications from the pink-ball tour game, though it wasn’t a full-fledged contest, are that Jaiswal and Rahul will continue to open with Gill replacing Padikkal at No. 3, and Rohit possibly going in the middle order behind Virat Kohli. Rishabh Pant is the other certain starter in the middle order.

She holds a long-term view about returning to the South Africa national team, but as it stands, is not in consideration for the upcoming T20 World Cup

Firdose Moonda30-Jul-2024Former South Africa captain Dane van Niekerk will make her return to professional cricket this summer after signing for provincial side Western Province.While she has long-term hopes of making a return to international cricket, she told ESPNcricinfo she has “no timeline”. For now, she just wants to “play again and have fun.”That means van Niekerk is unlikely to be in consideration for South Africa’s squad, led by Laura Wolvaardt, at the upcoming T20 World Cup in Bangladesh. Van Niekerk’s wife, Marizanne Kapp, will play a key role in that tournament which van Niekerk is unlikely to be at, as she participates in domestic games at home.She confirmed she will play “all the fixtures, if I am able,” and hopes to get back into contention for higher honours. “My No.1 priority is to play again,” she said. “I have no expectations other than that. What will be, will be. I miss representing my country and playing at the highest level. It has nothing to do with anything other than that.”Van Niekerk has not played any cricket since The Hundred in August last year, which she was forced to leave early after fracturing her right thumb. Before that, she captained Sunrisers in the Rachel Heyhoe-Flint Trophy, where they finished fourth, and had a stint in the first edition of the WPL, where she was part of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru outfit. She has not played for South Africa since 2021 and retired from international cricket in March last year, shortly after she missed out on South Africa’s T20 World Cup 2023 squad because she was unable to meet Cricket South Africa’s (CSA) standards.At the time, South Africa required women’s national players to run a two-kilometre time trial in 9:30 and van Niekerk, who had recovered from a broken ankle, missed the mark by 18 seconds. CSA have since abandoned the rigid application of the time trial and skinfolds tests and left national selection to the coach’s discretion.Currently, South Africa do not have a confirmed permanent coach after Dillon du Preez took over in an interim capacity for the tour to India. Du Preez replaced Hilton Moreeng, who was in the role for almost 12 years. CSA are expected to announce a succession plan for the women’s coaching role ahead of October’s T20 World Cup but with no fixtures between now and then, and only two months, it is likely du Preez will continue, with a permanent appointment to be made ahead of the home season. South Africa host England this summer for an all-format tour including the first home Test in 22 years.

Court to allow consecutive two consecutive terms of three years at BCCI and state separately

Nagraj Gollapudi14-Sep-2022The Supreme Court has relaxed the cooling-off period rule in the BCCI constitution, which will allow the current set of office-bearers led by board president Sourav Ganguly and secretary Jay Shah to stand for re-election for another term, until 2025. A two-judge bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and Hima Kohli passed orders to this effect on Wednesday – the formal judgement has not yet been made public -modifying its 2018 judgement.The court agreed to tweaking the existing rule on the cooling-off period by allowing an office bearer to hold office for two terms at one place – the state association or BCCI – while removing the clause of combination of both. Ganguly and Shah had already served one term each at the state and BCCI levels and would have been disqualified under the existing rule. They can now serve an additional term at the BCCI.In 2018, the BCCI adopted a newly drafted constitution, which was finalised post the court’s judgement by Justice Chandrachud, that an office bearer who has held any post for two consecutive terms (six years) either at a state association or in the BCCI, or a combination of both, shall not be eligible to contest any further election without completing a cooling-off period of three years. During the cooling-off period, the person cannot serve in any capacity at both the BCCI or state level.In 2019, the BCCI administration approached the court seeking several significant amendments to the board’s constitution, which if approved by the court would roll back the sweeping reforms passed by the court in 2016 on the basis of the RM Lodha Committee recommendations. The changes sought by the BCCI comprised: tweaking the cooling-off period of the board’s office bearers, modifying the disqualification criteria, giving unprecedented powers to the BCCI secretary, and stopping the court from having any say if the board wants to alter the constitution.In its 2019 plea, the BCCI said the existing cooling-off period was a “restriction”, which was “proving to be a big blow to selecting talented and experienced hands”. The BCCI said the cooling-off period must be applied only after the individual has finished six years at one place – the BCCI or the state association, separately.That clause, it said, would be applicable to its two most senior office bearers: the president and secretary. As for the three remaining office bearers – treasurer, joint-secretary and vice-president – the BCCI said those three should be allowed to finish the maximum tenure of nine years (three terms), instead of having to take the three-year break after two consecutive terms (six years) in the job.”Existing position is by using the word combination, even if you have done one term in state and one term in BCCI then you are out,” Justice Chandrachud said in the hearing. “But what we are proposing is that if you have done six years at the state level then you are subject to a three-year cooling-off period (at state). If you have not done six years at the same level then you are not subject to a cooling-off period.”Justice Chandrachud said another “format” the court could “possibly consider” was “a person can be a member at the most for two consecutive terms either at the state or at the BCCI. But if you have two completed two consecutive terms each of three years at the state and BCCI then you must have a cooling-off period of three years. That is two different proposals. Our first proposal was three in state, six in the BCCI (or) six in the state three in the BCCI, after which cooling-off period will apply.”Second, we are giving a more liberal thing: you can do six in the state, you can then immediately do six in the BCCI because they are two different levels. But after completing two consecutive terms at two different levels then take a break of three years.”Justice Chandrachud also said that once the person had finished six years at one place – state or BCCI – he could not return to the same for three years. And in case the person had finished 12 years at a stretch – six each at state and BCCI – he could not return for a period of three years to either.Justice Chandrachud pointed out that these were his observations at this stage before he and Justice Kohli put out the order. Both justices agreed that such an approach would be more “balanced”.If the court does pass the same in its judgement, that would allow the current BCCI office bearers to continue for another term of three years. It was in October 2019 that former India captain Ganguly was elected as BCCI president and Shah, who is the son of India Home Minister Amit Shah, as secretary. Arun Dhumal, brother of former BCCI president Anurag Thakur, who is also the Indian Sports and Youth Affairs Minister, was elected as BCCI treasurer while Jayesh George took charge as joint secretary.The BCCI is due for fresh elections, which was originally scheduled for the end of this month, but eventually postponed as the board wanted to wait for the court take a call on the amendments sought.Justice Chandrachud added the main reason for having a cooling-off period was to avoid any “vested interests” because “you don’t form a clique with undesirable elements for undesirable purposes.” He said that it was “too stringent” to ask the office bearer to take a three-year break if he had served six years through a combination of state and BCCI or served just six years at state level or BCCI level.Justice Chandrachud said that while he had the “highest respect” for the RM Lodha Committee which had recommended originally a cooling-off period of three years after every single term of three years for an office bearer or administrator, he felt it was important to remember the court was “regulating affairs” as an autonomous body and it was important to give BCCI “sufficient” freedom “so long as they are not defeating the purpose” of the judgement.”The (court’s) object is to prevent undesirable monopolies in cricket or in any sports association. You have to balance two things – you have to balance to need for continuity with the need for to ensure there are no undesirable affiliations. Instead of having two terms at two different levels (BCCI and state) as a bar, one term at two different levels as a bar, we are saying that you can’t have more than two terms at one level.”