BCCI working committee likely to discuss suspension of CSK and Royals owners

The BCCI's working committee will meet on October 18 in Mumbai, for the first time since the death of Jagmohan Dalmiya and Shashank Manohar's subsequent election as president. The most pressing issue on the agenda is likely to be a decision on the suspended owners of two IPL teams - Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals- and a discussion on the intricacies of the Lodha Committee's order.

A BCCI official confirmed the development and said the agenda was likely to be the same as the one that had been originally chalked out for the Kolkata meeting on August 27, but that had been adjourned due to confusion over the legality of N Srinivasan's presence.

The working committee meeting will also fix a date for the board's annual general meeting. The decks for conducting the AGM have been cleared after the Supreme Court, while dismissing BCCI's plea seeking clarification on Srinivasan's presence at its meetings, asked the BCCI to stick to its stand of not allowing him to attend the meetings due to his alleged conflict of interest.

A working group that was set up in July to formulate guidelines for the IPL's future conduct is also likely to submit its report at this meeting. The group comprises IPL chairman Rajiv Shukla, BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur, treasurer Anirudh Chaudhry, legal advisor Ushanath Banerjee and former India captain Sourav Ganguly.

The working committee meeting, which can't be held before October 16 with Thakur going to Dubai later this week for the ICC Chief Executives' Committee meet, may also decide on possible action against Odisha Cricket Association regarding the bottle-throwing incident in Cuttack.

There may also be clarifications made on the document seeking no conflict of interest declarations, after four BCCI members sought explanation on its scope.

The working committee is also likely to confirm the finance committee's decision to award central contracts to women cricketers, the first time India's women players will have annual retainers. Also, there may be a discussion on whether the National Cricket Academy will be moved out of Bangalore. The NCA board had shortlisted Pune, Mohali and Dharamsala as alternative venues, but Pune has already opted out.

The conundrum surrounding India's coaching staff - another issue that was up for discussion in Kolkata - has been sorted, at least in the near future, with Ravi Shastri, Sanjay Bangar, B Arun and R Sridhar receiving extensions till the end of the World T20 in April 2016.

However, the major issue that couldn't be resolved in August was the ratification of the technical committee's decision to introduce new points system in the Ranji Trophy and changes to the format of domestic one-day and T20 tournaments. With the Indian domestic season having begun already, all new implementations will have to wait at least another year.