The Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) chief executive officer, Rahul Johri, will leave his office this month, a year before his five-year contract was end after the board accepted his resignation on Thursday (9 July).
Johri decided to quit last December, soon after the BCCI elected a new administration lead by former India captain Sourav Ganguly. He was to originally leave in April 2020, but continued in the job even though it wasn't clear if he had been given an extension.
Since Ganguly's administration took charge, Johri's role has been diminished as Ganguly along with BCCI secretary Jay Shah have chaired all the key BCCI meetings and represent the board at ICC meetings.
Johri will be the second senior official to exit the BCCI's professional wing after Santosh Rangnekar quit as the chief financial officer last November just two weeks into Ganguly's administration.
The Lodha committee's recommendation that asked for the board to separate their governance and management wings resulted in the BCCI hiring both Johri and Rangnekar in June 2016. Their appointments were part of an initiative called 'Project Transformation' - initiated by former BCCI president Shashank Manohar – which was aimed at improving the board's governance, operational and financial processes.
Johri assumed wider powers during the tenure of the Committee of Administrators (CoA), which was appointed by the Supreme Court in January 2017 as a supervisory authority to facilitate the BCCI's implementation of the Lodha committee's reforms.
Along with the CoA, he was involved in the BCCI and the International Cricket Councul (ICC) brokering a truce over the new finance model. He also oversaw the sale of the IPL media rights deal which Star India bagged in 2017 by paying a record US $2.55 billion for five years.
Johri's supervision was not limited to just the running of the BCCI, as he also played a key role in Anil Kumble stepping down as India's head coach immediately after the 2017 Champions Trophy.
In October 2018, Johri faced sexual harassment allegation from an anonymous woman as part of the #MeToo movement. In November, Johri resumed office after the independent committee appointed by the CoA found him not guilty.
John Stephenson
john@cricketinvestor.co.uk
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