Changing the rules

"Change" it is famously said is all that is constant in the world. And yet the world hates change, no matter, it is only change that has brought progress for mankind… Benjamin Franklin put it more pithily when he said "When you're finished changing, you're finished."

These are not lines of an acclaimed book. Rather, it is the first few lines of the final Supreme Court verdict on the R M Lodha committee recommendations pronounced by Justices T S Thakur and Justice F M I Kalifullah on 18 July 2016. Clearly, it is an order like no other and will fundamentally transform Indian cricket administration for all times to come.

In the 88 years, since the formation of the Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI) in 1928, there has never been a more radical shake-up. Every administrator of repute has stayed in the system for more than nine years and some have sought re-election more than once. Almost everyone has held dual offices and some have even presided over their state associations for more than two decades. Most importantly, every major decision for almost eight decades was taken by the working committee, the all-powerful arm of the Board. Now none of this will be possible. The working committee will no longer exist and will soon be replaced by an Apex Council. No administrator will be able to seek re-election to a top executive post without a 'cooling off' period and a cap on total years in power to nine signals the end of the road for whoever the person may be.