Devajit Saikia appointed Acting Secretary of BCCI after Jay Shah's departure
Devajit Saika acted as a joint-secretary in the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). He has now been appointed as the acting secretary of the Board following Jay Shah's departure from BCCI.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) joint-secretary, Devajit Saika, has been appointed as the Acting Secretary of the Indian Board following Jay Shah's departure.
According to a report in PTI, Board President Roger Binny used his constitutional powers to appoint Saikia as acting secretary for an interim period till a permanent secretary is appointed under the rules and regulations of the BCCI.
Binny cited clause 7(1) (d) of the BCCI constitution to hand secretarial powers to Saika, who is a former first-class cricketer and also an Advocate General of the state.
"The president shall in the event of vacancy or indisposition shall delegate the functions to another office bearer until the vacancy is duly filled up or indisposition ceases.
"Accordingly, I delegate the functions of secretary to you till the post is filled up by processes laid down as per BCCI rules and regulations. I am confident you will perform the duties to the best of your abilities and with aplomb," Binny wrote to Saikia.
Saika was present at the ICC meetings in Dubai this week, which gave indications that he might take the mantle next. He is expected to continue in the role till September next year, following which the vacancy will have a permanent holder. Saika has been appointed an acting secretary, coming in after Shah left the secretary post for the ICC chairman role. Shah took the top role in the International cricket body on December 1.
He had served as the BCCI secretary from October 2019 onwards. Shah worked on different facets in his role as the BCCI secretary. He gave special emphasis on domestic cricket and also equalled the match fees of the women's players to that of the men's players.
Shah also credits conducting the IPL 2020 amidst COVID-19 as his biggest achievement. "The Olympics, English Premier League and French Open had already been postponed/cancelled. We created an isolation bubble within which we conducted the tournament. We demonstrated to the world what BCCI could achieve," Shah had told Times of India earlier in the year.