BCCI's key decisions at 89th AGM: 10 teams in IPL, Rajeev Shukla appointed Vice President

Apart from ratifying the proposition to include 10 teams in the Indian Premier League (IPL), the BCCI deliberated on several other issues at the 89th Annual General Meeting (AGM) held at Motera in Ahmedabad on Thursday noon. The apex cricket body has now has released details of 7 key decisions taken during the 89th AGM. These include the appointment of Rajeev Shukla as the Vice President of the Board and increase in the limit of reimbursement of insurance medical claim of retired First Class Cricketers. 

Key Decisions at 89th AGM

1. The Electoral Officer, Mr. AK Joti announced the election of Mr. Rajeev Shukla as Vice President of BCCI. Further, Mr. Brijesh Patel and Mr. KM Majumdar were unanimously re-elected as members representative to the IPL Governing Council by the General Body.  
2.  Mr. Pragyan Ojha who was nominated by the Indian Cricketers Association (ICA) as a player representative, was inducted to the IPL Governing Council at the AGM.
3. The General Body authorized the IPL Governing Council to include up to ten teams to the Indian Premier League. The IPL GC will work out the modalities regarding scheduling for up to 10 teams.
4. The General Body also decided to seek further clarification from the ICC on their proposal to include cricket in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
5. The BCCI also increased the limit of reimbursement of insurance medical claim of retired First Class Cricketers to INR 10 Lakhs.
6. The retirement age of the BCCI affiliated umpires and scorers has also been increased to 60 years.  
7. The General Body approved the disbursement of funds to the ICA.

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The 89th AGM also tabled and deliberated upon the appointment of cricket committee, standing committees and umpires committee. It also authorized the respective office bearers to decide on BCCI's representative to the ICC Board of Directors, setting up of a new National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru, venues for the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 slated to be held in India, to decide on the 2020-21 domestic season and also form a working group in order to compensate the players, match officials and others involved in cricketing activity. 

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10 teams in IPL from 2022

The two new franchises are expected to be Lucknow and Ahmedabad, with the latter likely to get the newly inaugurated Motera Stadium as its home, as per sources. With the inclusion of two new franchises, the IPL 2022 is also expected to witness 94 league matches instead of the usual 56-matches long season. After a successful season in the UAE, the IPL 2022 will feature 10 teams, for which the BCCI will soon float tenders inviting bidders to buy the new franchises. The bidding will be followed by a mega auction which will witness all 10 franchises fighting for the players to build their squads. 

Previously, the 2011 edition had witnessed the inclusion of two new teams - Pune Warriors India and Kochi Tuskers Kerala - taking the total number of teams to 10. However, a year later, the Kochi franchise was terminated and then in 2011 the BCCI announced the termination of Deccan Chargers. This was followed by the introduction of Hyderabad franchise as a replacement and later on due to differences with the BCCI, the Pune franchise opted out of the IPL, bringing back the total number of teams to 8. 

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BCCI appoints Chetan Sharma as Chief Selector

Replacing Sunil Joshi, former Indian cricketer Chetan Sharma has been appointed as the Chairman of the Indian Selection Committee, the BCCI confirmed on Thursday. The Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) comprising of Madan Lal, RP Singh and Sulakshana Naik met virtually on Thursday to add three members to the selection panel. Apart from Chetan Sharma, the CAC recommended Abey Kuruvilla and Debashish Mohanty as members of the selectors panel, which the BCCI has approved. The selection committee was previously led by Sunil Joshi, however, the CAC recommended Chetan Sharma as the new selector based on the level of seniority. 

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