Board of Control for Cricket in India

In a meeting with the Maharaja of Patiala and others, Gilligan promised to press for its inclusion in the ICC if all of the game's promoters in the country united to establish a single controlling body. An assurance was given and on 21 November 1927 a meeting was held in Delhi, which was attended by delegates from Patiala, Delhi, United Provinces of Agra and Oudh, Rajputana, Alwar, Bhopal, Gwalior, Baroda, Kathiawar, Central Provinces and Berar, Sindh and Punjab. The delegates agreed to create a board for control of cricket in India. On 10 December 1927, a unanimous decision to form a provisional board of control was taken, and the BCCI was formed in December 1928. R. E. Grant Govan was elected as its first president and Anthony de Mello was secretary.[29]

In 1926, the BCCI joined the Imperial Cricket Council, then the governing body for international cricket. In 1936, the BCCI started India's premier first-class cricket championship the Ranji Trophy, which was named after the first Indian person who played international cricket, the King of Nawanagar state K.S. Ranjitsinhji, who played for England in international cricket. The Mumbai cricket team is the most-successful team, winning 41 titles.

CK Nayudu (In the 1930s), Indian former cricketer, Indian cricket team's first captain in Test cricket

In 1932, India played its maiden Test match under the captaincy of CK Naidu against England at Lord's cricket ground in London. During England's 1933-34 tour of India, on 17 December 1933, Lala Amarnath became the first Indian batsman to score a test century, scoring 118 on his debut, at Bombay Gymkhana.[30] In 1967–68, India won its first-ever Test cricket series outside Asia. Previously it had defeated Pakistan, New Zealand and England, and won series in India.[31]

In 1952, the England team toured India; it was their first tour of India after its Independence. Nigel Howard was the captain of touring team.[32] The former India captain Vijaya Ananda Gajapathi Raju, also known as Vizzy, was the BCCI president in the 1960s.[33]

In 1975, the BCCI paid ₹2,500 per match to the test cricketers. Banks, Indian railways and private enterprises would recruit players.[34]

The board appointed Ajit Wadekar captain. in 1971, the Indian team won their first test series against England on English soil, and against the West Indies. Sunil Gavaskar made his test debut.

India won the 1983 Cricket World Cup, defeating the defending champions the West Indies by 43 runs in the final at Lord's. India also won the World Championship of Cricket in 1985, defeating Pakistan by eight wickets in the final at Melbourne Cricket Ground. The BCCI hosted the 1987 World Cup; it was the first time the event was organised outside England.[35]

Through the 1980s and early 1990s, BCCI paid ₹5 lakh per match to terrestrial television network Doordarshan to broadcast the Indian cricket team's matches.[36]

The BCCI hosted the Cricket World Cup competitions in 1987 and 1996.[25][lower-alpha 4]

In 1991, BCCI proposed South Africa's readmission to international cricket at the International Cricket Council (ICC).[37] After the proposal succeeded, the BCCI sold television broadcast rights for the first time; South African Broadcasting Corporation purchased the rights to broadcast the South African cricket tour of India, South Africa's first official international tour after the 21-year boycott from international cricket.[38] During this time, South Africa joined the "Asian bloc" of the BCCI and its South-Asian neighbours.

In 1993, the BCCI signed a deal with TransWorld International (TWI), which would pay the BCCI to televise England's tour of India on satellite television and Doordarshan would pay TWI for the rights to televise the matches in India.[39][40] The 1993 Hero Cup was broadcast on Star TV, which made it the first cricket series to be broadcast on satellite television in India and broke the monopoly of Doordarshan.[41][39] A lengthy legal battle between Doordarshan and the BCCI—which was led by Jagmohan Dalmiya and president I. S. Bindra—ensued. In February 1995, the Supreme Court of India ruled the television rights of India's matches were a commodity belonging to the BCCI, for which the broadcaster must pay BCCI and not the other way around.[42]

BCCI, in a joint bid with Pakistan and Sri Lanka, won the rights to host the 1996 Cricket World Cup, defeating the England-and-Australia bloc. The tournament was a commercial success,[43] yielding the ICC a profit of $50 million.[42]

In 1997, Dalmiya became the president of the ICC.[43] With Dalmiya at the head of the ICC, the BCCI led a successful proposal to grant Test status to Bangladesh in 1999–2000.[44]

Since 2000, the BCCI has hosted and organised multiple ICC cricket World Cup competitions in 2011,[lower-alpha 5] 2016, 2021,[lower-alpha 6] ICC Men's Cricket World Cups, 2013, 2016 Women's Cricket world cups.

In 2007, the BCCI established the Indian Premier League (IPL), an annual, franchise-based, Twenty20 cricket league. In 2008, the BCCI sold the ownership of eight city-based franchises to corporate groups and Bollywood celebrities in a closed auction for a total of US$723.49 million;[45] it also sold the tournament's global media rights for 10 years to World Sport Group for US$1.03 billion. The media deal was re-negotiated the following year to $1.6 billion.[46] In 2010, the BCCI expanded the league to 10 teams, selling two new franchises for a total of US$703 million.[47] Due to the IPL's commercial success, similarly styled Twenty20 leagues appeared around the world, as did franchise-based leagues in other sports in India.[48][49]

In 2019, the BCCI recognised retired players' union the Indian Cricketers Association, which was formed after the Lodha committee's recommendation. The BCCI also includes this union's representative in its and the IPL's governing apex council.[50]

On 14 February 2022, BCCI began constructing a new National Cricket Academy (NCA) at Bengaluru.[51]

From 2008, the BCCI banned Pakistani players from playing in the IPL due to Pakistan's involvement in 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks,[62][63][64] in which terrorist attack by Pakistan-trained terrorists killed 166 people died and injured 238. The attacks angered Indians.[65] In 2012, the BCCI advised its IPL franchises not to buy any Pakistani players. It was wary of several issues; their off-field misdemeanours and spot-fixing allegations against them.[66]

From 2012, BCCI opposed holding any bilateral series with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). India plays against Pakistan only in ICC and ACC multinational events. Many times, the PCB urged BCCI to play bilateral series but BCCI rejected them. According to the BCCI, India cannot not play bilateral series against Pakistan without the Government of India's permission.[67] According to the Indian government, Pakistan sponsors, harbours and supports terrorist organisations, and trains terrorists.[68][69][70] In 2017, the Sports Minister of India, Vijay Goel said Pakistan should first stop sponsoring terrorists. [71][72]

BCCI pays 10 percent from the salary of every foreign player to their respective national board. In 2022, the Australian Cricketers' Association expressed their unhappiness about these payments.[73]

The BCCI's former president N. Srinivasan was criticised for his alleged biased behaviour towards some state boards by awarding them ODI, Test and T20 matches while in office, possibly in violation of the board's rotation policy on venues.[74][73][16]

During Srinivasan's tenure as its treasurer, the BCCI constitution was amended to allow him to buy a franchise through his company India Cements during the 2008 IPL Team Auction.[75] Srinivasan courted further controversy for appointing India and Chennai Super Kings captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni as a vice-president of India Cements.[76] Srinivasan's son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan, who was also closely associated with Chennai Super Kings, was arrested for alleged involvement in Spot-fixing and betting. Then-BCCI-unrecognised state association Bihar Cricket Association (BCA) filed a petition against the BCCI for mismanagement and conflict of interest in its investigation of 2013 IPL corruption scandal. In 2013, Mumbai police arrested the Indian cricket team's regular player S. Sreesanth, other players and IPL team owners of Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals for their dealings with the illegal betting industry.[77] In 2015, the Supreme Court appointed the Lodha Committee and suspended Chennai Super Kings from the IPL for two years, and suspended Meiyappan from cricket activities for life.[78] In 2013, Rupa Gurunath—N Shrinivasan's daughter and Gurunath Meiyappan's wife—who was then president of Tamil Nadu Cricket Association, was found guilty of conflict of interest by the BCCI's ethics officer Justice D.K. Jain. In 2015, the Supreme Court of India barred Srinivasan from the BCCI for contesting elections due to his conflict of interest; the court also struck down the amendments of BCCI constitution that had allowed him to own and operate an IPL team.

The BCCI does not allow its contracted, non-contracted, national and domestic players to participate in any cricket leagues abroad. Only players who have retired from all formats of Indian cricket can take part in foreign leagues. Players such as Adam Gilchrist have questioned this policy. Indian players such as Suresh Raina and Robin Uthappa have urged the board to allow non-contracted players like them to participate in foreign leagues.[79][80]

Many times BCCI avoided paying government taxes. Once it claimed that it is a "charitable organisation" to avoide tax. It often brand itself as a Non government organisation (NGO).[81] In 2014, India's ministry of finance revealed that, there were as many as 213 cases of tax envisions by BCCI/IPL from 2009-10 to 2014, which involving 261.64 Cr rupees.[82] Till 2012, BCCI got exemption from tax under IT Act 1961 (section 11) but later Income tax department declared BCCI'S earnings as commercial and listed them as business income.[83] Whenever ICC organise a international event such as world cup in India, it ask BCCI to get tax exemptions from its government. During 2016 T20 world cup, Modi government gave them 10% exemption.[84] According to Deccan Herald article on 19 December 2021, even though BCCI is one of the worlds' richest sports body and earns thousands of crore rupees per year, it shows unwillingness to pay income tax and finds loopholes in law to avoid paying taxes.[85]

Politicians from multiple political parties have held positions with the BCCI; Sharad Pawar of the Nationalist Congress Party, Madhavrao Scindia of the Indian National Congress and Anurag Thakur of Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) were BCCI presidents, As of 2023, A Thakur's brother Arun Singh Dhumal is the current IPL chairman. As of 18 October 2022, Jay Shah, the son of the Home Minister of India Amit Shah, is BCCI's secretary. Rajiv Shukla of the Congress party who is associated with the BCCI from more than a decade is its vice-president and Ashish Shelar of BJP is its treasurer.[86]

The BCCI has been criticised for its monopolistic practices, and has suffered from allegations of corruption and cronyism. [87] On 30 January 2017, The Supreme Court of India nominated a four-member Committee of Administrators composed of Vinod Rai, Ramachandra Guha, Vikram Limaye and Diana Edulji to administer the BCCI to implement Lodha Committee reforms.[88] Vinod Rai, a retired civil servant and the former Comptroller and Auditor General of India, led the committee, which administered the board until elections could be conducted.[89][90][91]

The BCCI had consistently opposed its regulation by the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA). On 9 August 2019, the BCCI agreed to adhere to the anti-doping mechanisms governed by the NADA.[92][93]

The rebel league the Indian Cricket League (ICL) was owned and operated by Essel Group. BCCI banned Indian players who played in the ICL, including Hemang Badani, Dinesh Mongia, Rohan Gavaskar and Ambati Rayudu, but later gave amnesty to these players and lifted theirs bans after they ended their ties with the ICL.[94][95][96] The BCCI blacklisted Essel Group company [[Zee Entertainment Enterprises due to this league, and expelled it from the BCCI in 2021. Zee was prohibited from buying BCCI's media rights.[97] In 2006, the BCCI sold the Indian cricket team's media rights to Zee for the 2006-11 period but after Essel Group initiated the ICL, the BCCI terminated this deal. Zee fought a long legal battle with the BCCI; on 12 March 2018, a tribunal headed by three judges found BCCI guilty and asked them to pay Zee ₹140 crores for losses. The tribunal found blacklisting of Zee by BCCI was illegal and said in judgement; "To us it seems that BCCI was exploiting its dominating position in respect of game of cricket in India” and also added Zee and its affiliated companies to the blacklist and banning them from participating in the BCCI bidding process was illegal.[98]

The BCCI is governed by its constitution. The board has been prohibited by the Supreme Court of India from amending its own constitution without its approval.[99]

The BCCI's headquarters is located at the Cricket Centre within the premises of the Mumbai Cricket Association at Wankhede Stadium in Churchgate, Mumbai, where it occupies three floors of a four-floor building.[100]

According to the BCCI, it is an autonomous body and does not receive any grants or funding from the Indian government. In 2004, in the Supreme Court of India, the BCCI's lawyers said the Indian cricket team is "the official team of BCCI and not the official team of India". The lawyers also said the BCCI "do not even fly the national flag" and that it never "uses any national emblem in the activities of the Board". The BCCI recommends its players for prestigious awards such as the Arjuna award but says it is not a national sports federation.[101] The BCCI is registered as a society in Tamil Nadu under the societies registration act and it denies coming under Article 12 of Indian constitution. From its foundation, the BCCI has not been sanctioned by Government of India; it started as governing body of cricket in India and as a representative of India. The BCCI is alleged to use British Raj emblem without prior permission from Government of India and its offence under the Emblem and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act, 1950.[102]

The BCCI's logo is derived from the Star of India emblem. According to Information Commissioner Sridhar Acharyulu, the logo was designed by the British Raj in 1928. It is 90% similar to the Star of India.[103][104]

The BCCI has a special anti-corruption unit that is responsible for preventing malpractice in cricket within India.[105][106] This unit is responsible for investigating unlawful activities such as betting, spot-fixing, match-fixing and corrupt approaches to players.[107] Shabir Hussein has been the head of this unit since April 2021 .[108]

Former Indian Supreme Court judge Vineet Saran is the BCCI's incumbent ethics officer and ombudsman. He was appointed in June 2022.[109] The board created this ethics officer post in 2017 due to increasing complaints of conflict of interest in the board's office holders, employees and associated people. The officer reviews complaints of conflict of interest.[110]

Membership of the Board of Control for Cricket in India consists of full members and associate members; only full members have voting rights in annual general meetings (AGMs).[111]

Following the Lodha Committee's recommendations in 2015, full membership was restricted to state and union territory associations, and limited to one representative body per state. Subsequently, several state associations became full members and, because the states of Gujarat and Maharashtra each had three members, Mumbai, Baroda, Saurashtra and Vidharbh were relegated to associate membership.[112] Neither the Cricket Club of India nor the National Cricket Club field teams in major domestic tournaments but as founding members of BCCI, they had full voting rights until the Lodha Committee recommendations were implemented.[113][114] Some of the recommendations that were implemented have since been reversed. In 2018, Railways, Services and Universities regained full membership;[115] and in 2022, the rule restricting states to a single full member was removed, meaning Mumbai, Baroda, Saurashtra and Vidharbh once again became full members.[114]

President is an elected position, and is considered the most-powerful position in the BCCI administration. Due to the president's financial power and the popularity of cricket in India, it is considered as a highly prestigious position. The President of the BCCI presides over the meeting of the apex council and the general body. He signs audited annual accounts and financial statements.[116][117]

The full-member state boards can vote in the presidential election. Gujarat and Maharashtra have more than one full member but as per the Lodha Committee, supreme court guidelines state any state can have only one vote in the election at any time.[118]

Former India-and-Karnataka cricketer, national selector, India under-19 teams' coach and President of the Karnataka State Cricket Association Roger Binny is the incumbent President of the BCCI. He succeeded Sourav Ganguly. Binny is a member of India's 1983 Cricket World Cup-winning team. He took charge in October 2022.[119][17]

'BCCI secretary' is the second most powerful and important post after president. Secretary signs all the contracts and carries correspondence on behalf of BCCI. Jay Shah is the incumbent secretary. The secretary have power to take action or defend office bearers, employees of the board.[99] [120]

As per the eligibility criteria, the person who has at least 10 years of working experience in a ₹100 crore-or-more annual turnover company on management position can be a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the BCCI. Hemang Amin is the incumbent CEO.[121] Rahul Johari became the first CEO; the post was created after the recommendation of the Lodha Committee. The CEO of the BCCI handles its management duties and reports to the BCCI secretary.[122]

National selectors are responsible for selecting national men. It also select male junior teams India A and India B, which represent India in second-and-third tiers of international cricket. The selection committee is composed of five people from five different zones of the country. Chetan Sharma is the current chief national selector; and Shivasundar Das, Sridharan Sharath, Salil Ankola are its members.[123] BCCI's junior national selection committee selects players for junior teams such as India U19 and U15 men. Sharath Sridharan is its chairman since 17 September 2021.[124]

The All India women's selection committee selects players for Indian female cricket team. It consists of five female former players from five zones of the nation, who have represented India at international level. As of 2020, former left-arm spinner Neetu David is the head of this committee since her appointment on 26 September 2020. The committee consists of Neetu David (head), Aarti Vaidya, Renu Margrate, Mithu Mukharjee, Venkatechar Kalpana.[125]

• Ranji Trophy [lower-alpha 7]
• Vijay Hazare Trophy[lower-alpha 8]
• CK Nayudu Trophy[126]
• Indian Premier League (IPL)
• Duleep Trophy
• Irani Cup[lower-alpha 9]
• NKP Salve Challenger Trophy
• Under 25 State A Trophy (One Day format)[127]
• Deodhar Trophy
• Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy

• Women's Premier League[56]
• Women's Senior One Day Trophy
• Women's Senior T20 Trophy
• Senior Women's Challenger Trophy
• Senior Women's T20 Challenger Cup
• Women's T20 Challenge
• Senior Women's Inter zonal tournament (T20 format)[127]
• Senior Women's Inter-zonal One Day[127]

• Women's Under 19 T20 Challenger Trophy[127] (India A, B, C and D teams participate)
• Women's under 19 One Day Trophy [127]
• Women's under 15 One Day Trophy[127]

BCCI organise following national junior cricket tournaments, in which junior teams of state association's participate :

• Cooch Behar Trophy (U-19, 4 day format)
• Vinoo Mankad Trophy (U-19, One Day format) [128]
• Vijay Merchant Trophy (U-16) [129]
• Vizzy Trophy[130] (List-A format)

In 2012, BCCI established its own production house. BCCI's broadcast service does the production work of Indian cricket team's international matches at home as well as of leading domestic championships and IPL. Till 2012, the company who holds the media rights used to do the production work in exchange of money from BCCI. Previously Nimbus sports did production for the board for some years.[131] BCCI's production house holds production rights and copyrights of Indian cricket.[132] It broadcasts video highlights of domestic as well as bilateral cricket series, on its website, www.bcci.tv .[133]

BCCI does not depend on the Government of India for its finances and hence is a private entity.[134]

In 2020, with US$405 million out of US$1,534 million, India had 26% share in the ICC FTP income disbursed to 10 Test playing nations, while the England and Wales Cricket Board received US$139 million as the second highest earner.[135]

In 2020, to revive the financial health of other boards after the global economic decline and the significantly reduced income of most boards due to the COVID-19 pandemic, ICC will change its FTP to schedule to organise more bilateral matches of other nations with India.[135]

The BCCI is regarded as cricket's big economic player.[136] ICC is mainly governed by board of directors which are nominated by each member board. Every member board needs bilateral matches with BCCI for high media rights value. Those boards which go along with BCCI, get good number of bilateral matches leading to high income during bilateral series. They generally work at ICC in consultation with BCCI. In 2009, the ICC and BCCI were in disagreement over the WADA Whereabouts clause.[137]

In FY 2019–2020, the total annual income of BCCI is estimated to be over INR 3,730 crore (US$535 million), including INR 2,500 crore (US$345 million) from the IPL, INR 950 crore (US$139 million) from bilateral cricket with other nations, and INR 380 crore (US$51 million per year or total US$405 million for 8 years) from India's share of ICC revenue.[135]

In 2020, as per the present eight-year Future Tours Program (FTP), India receives a total of US$405 million from ICC, as contrasted with US$139 million to the England and Wales Cricket Board, while US$128 million for each of Cricket Australia, Cricket South Africa, Pakistan Cricket Board, New Zealand Cricket, Sri Lanka Cricket, Cricket West Indies and Bangladesh Cricket Board, and US$94 million for Zimbabwe.[135]

In 2018 Star India won the BCCI's exclusive media rights for the period of year 2018– 2023. Star India won the rights to broadcast Indian cricket team's matches on their TV channels such as Star Sports 1 HD, Star Sports 2 HD etc. and rights to broadcast on Disney+ Hotstar in 6138.10 crore rupees.

On average, Star Sports pays 60.1 crore rupees per match to the board.[138] The deal also include rights to broadcast men's domestic tournaments such as Vijay Hazare trophy, Ranji Trophy, Irani Cup, Duleep trophy, Mushtaq Ali trophy and women's international cricket matches in India on Star Sport channel and Disney+ Hotstar.

The IPL is the BCCI's largest source of income by medium of media rights. From 2018 to 2022, global rights were awarded to Star India for ₹16,347.5 crore (US$2.0 billion).[139] In 2022, BCCI sold IPL media rights in total 48,390 cr, comprising television rights of 23,575 cr and digital rights of 20,500 cr won by Disney and Viacom18 respectively. This deal includes 410 matches from year 2023–2027. Viacom 18 won the exclusive digital rights for Indian subcontinent and for streaming in UK, Australia-New Zealand and South Africa, while Times Internet won global streaming rights in Middle East, North Africa and United States. Due to this deal IPL became the second most richest league in the world behind National Football League (NFL).[140]

Star India is the official broadcaster of BCCI, MPL is kit sponsor, Byju's is team sponsor, Mastercard is title sponsor for all the bilateral series, which take place in India and for all the domestic championships such as Ranji trophy, Vijay Hazare trophy, Sayyed Mushtaq Ali trophy, Irani trophy, Duleep trophy and Deodhar trophy etc. Dream 11, Ambuja and Hyundai are official partners.[141]

BCCI sold IPL 2022, offline – online tickets selling rights to BookMyShow, a ticket selling Indian company. The deal had been included management of spectators entry on stadium gates.[142] Paytm insider app also often sells bilateral series's tickets.

On 12 September 2006, BCCI announced that it will spend ₹ 1,600 crore over the subsequent one year to upgrade the cricket stadiums around the country.[143]

In the early half of the 2000s it established National Cricket Academy at Bangalore. It got built to train new upcoming cricketers. On 17 February 2022 BCCI president Sourav Ganguly founded new NCA facility at Bangalore. It is being built in 40 acres land near airport. On completion it will have three cricket grounds, 40 practice pitches, rooms to reside, swimming pool, gymnasium. It will be built in 200 crore rupees.[144]

In March 2020, BCCI President Sourav Ganguly donated ₹ 51 crore to the PM CARES Fund to combat the COVID-19 pandemic in India.[145] BCCI to donate 10-litre 2000 oxygen concentrators to help India fight COVID-19.[146][147]

It announced reward to the medal winners of the country of Tokyo Olympics.[148]

The BCCI created four grades for contracted male players A+, A, B, C and three grades for contracted female players A, B, C. The male players who are in A+ grade get 7 crores rupees in a year. Players of A grade get 5 crore, B grade's players gets 3 crores and C grade's players receive 1 crore rupees in one year. The female players who are in A grade get 50 lakhs rupees in a year, B grade gets 30 lakhs rupees in a year and C grade gets 10 lakhs rupees in a year.[149]

BCCI give pension to the former domestic and international players who played for the country.[149] On 31 December 1993 BCCI decided to give 50,000 rupees pension to the players, who played more than 25 International Test match for the nation. The board gives 15,000 rupees pension to the players, who played Ranji trophy before 1957– 1958 season.[149] In 2013 BCCI gave one time benefits to the domestic players who played more than 75 first class matches.[150] For women's cricketers the board give 22500 rupees per month pension to the players who played 10 or more Tests for the country and 15000 rupees per month for who played 5 to 9 Tests.[149]

BCCI have taken insurance for nearly everything which are related to them such as they covered mediclaim for their employees, they have insured international and domestic players for loss of fees due to injury, matches, their old office and new office at Wankhede stadium, IPL matches. For it BCCI pay huge premium every year. In case of cancellation of IPL, domestic, international cricket matches, opening IPL shows which takes place at starting of the season due to bad weather, riot, fire then BCCI receives payments fom insurance companies.[151] Board provides five lakh rupees insurance to the players, who played under board.[152]

In 2018, the total amount of tax ₹ 472.22 crore, which was outstanding as on 1 April 2018, was cleared along with interest in September 2018 but the Department of Revenue has issued a notice for tax evasion to the BCCI. The Department of Revenue has asked the BCCI to pay another outstanding income tax worth ₹ 1,303 crore, according to details submitted by the Finance Ministry in the Parliament in February 2019.[153]

Earlier in 2007–08, although the Income Tax Department withdrew this exemption, BCCI only paid tax amounting to ₹41.9 crore (US$5.2 million) against its tax liability of ₹413 crore (US$52 million) in the 2009–2010 financial year[154]

In 2012, BCCI had avoided taxes on its income, claiming exemption as a charitable organisation.[155]