Former Assam cricketer Devajit Saikia has replaced Jay Shah to become the new secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Saikia was elected as the secretary at a Special General Meeting (SGM) on Sunday. Meanwhile, Prabhtej Singh Bhatia has also taken charge as the treasurer in the meeting.
The two were the only candidates who were nominated for the secretary and treasurer posts. Saikia was the acting secretary of the BCCI after Jay Shah left the post to become the ICC chairman. Roger Binny had used his constitutional powers to appoint Saikia as the acting secretary.
Binny cited clause 7(1) (d) of the BCCI constitution to hand secretarial powers to Saika, who is a former first-class cricketer and also an Advocate General of the state. "The president shall in the event of vacancy or indisposition shall delegate the functions to another office bearer until the vacancy is duly filled up or indisposition ceases.
"Accordingly, I delegate the functions of secretary to you till the post is filled up by processes laid down as per BCCI rules and regulations. I am confident you will perform the duties to the best of your abilities and with aplomb," Binny wrote to Saikia.
Notably, Shah was the BCCI secretary from October 2019 onwards. Shah worked on different facets in his role as the BCCI secretary. He gave special emphasis on domestic cricket and also equalled the match fees of the women's players to that of the men's players.
Shah was also very active in speaking to the Indian players. He had backed Rohit Sharma to lead India in the T20 World Cup 2024 with an aim to hoist the Indian flag in Barbados, and that is what happened. "Rohit has the ability, we know. As he showed in the ODI World Cup where we won 10 matches in a row until the final. I am confident that India will lift the 2024 T20 World Cup under Rohit Sharma's captaincy in Barbados," Shah had said during an event to rename the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot the Niranjan Shah Cricket Stadium.