The Board of Control for Cricket in India, also known as, Indian Cricket Board,
(abbreviation BCCI) is the principal national governing body of the sport of cricket in India.
[13]
Its headquarters are situated at the Cricket Centre in Churchgate, Mumbai.[14] BCCI is the
wealthiest governing body of cricket in the world.[15][16][17] It is involved in talent development
through grassroots programs and cricket academies. Its initiatives include infrastructure
development, coaching, and player welfare programs designed to maintain and enhance India's
competitive performance internationally.
BCCI was established on 1 December 1928 in Madras under Act XXI of 1860 of Madras and
was subsequently reregistered under the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act, 1975.[18] It is a
consortium of state cricket associations that select their own representatives who elect the BCCI
president. It joined the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1926 which later became the International
Cricket Council.[2] The BCCI is an autonomous, private organization that does not fall under the
purview of the National Sports Federation of India of Government of India and does not receive
any grants from the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. The BCCI is influential in
international cricket.[19][20][21] The International Cricket Council shares the largest part of its revenue
with the BCCI. IPL run by BCCI is one of the wealthiest sports leagues in the world.[12]
In financial year 2023-2024, BCCI earned ₹18,700 crore (US$2.2 billion).[12] BCCI
paid ₹4,298 crore (US$510 million) in taxes for the financial year 2022-23.[22][23][details 1]
R. E. Grant Govan was the first BCCI president and Anthony De Mello was its first secretary.
[24]
As of February 2023, Roger Binny is the incumbent BCCI president and Jay Shah is the
secretary.[25][26]
BCCI has hosted multiple Cricket World Cups,[a] and will host the 2026 T20 World Cup,
the 2029 Champions Trophy, the 2031 Cricket World Cup,[b] and the 2025 Women's Cricket
World Cup.[28][c]
The BCCI manages four squads that represent India in international cricket; the men's national
cricket team, the women's national cricket team, the men's national under-19 cricket
team and women's national under-19 cricket team. It also governs developmental India A, India
B and India A women's teams.[29] Its national selection committee, which is led by chief national
selector, selects players for these teams.[d] As part of its duties, the BCCI organises and schedules
matches to be played by each of these teams, and schedules, sanctions and organises domestic
cricket in India.[30][31][32]
History
[edit]
Further information: Overview of cricket in India, Overview of sports in India, History of cricket in India to
1918, and History of cricket in India from 1918–19 to 1945
See also: History of cricket in India by decades, History of the Indian cricket team, Cricket in India §
History, and India national cricket team § History
The first game of cricket was played in India by European sailors, who played the sport as a
recreational activity in the first half of the 18th century. These sailors played cricket near their
coastal settlements. The first recorded match in India was played between the British army and
British settlers in 1751. The world's second-oldest cricket club, Calcutta Cricket Club, was
founded in 1792 in present-day Kolkata. The Parsis were the first civilian community to accept
cricket as a sport and play it in India.[33] In 1848, they set up the Oriental Cricket Club in present-
day Mumbai. In 1850, they founded the Young Zoroastrian Cricket Club. In 1886, Hindus
founded the Hindu Gymkhana sports club.[34]
In 1912, an all-India cricket team visited England for the first time, and were sponsored and
captained by the Maharaja of Patiala. In 1926, two representatives of Calcutta Cricket Club
travelled to London to attend meetings of the Imperial Cricket Conference, the predecessor of the
current International Cricket Council. Although technically not an official representative of
Indian cricket, they were allowed to attend by Lord Harris, chairman of the conference. The
outcome of the meeting was the MCC's decision to send a team that was led by Arthur Gilligan,
who had captained England in The Ashes, to India.[citation needed]
Founding and early years
[edit]
CK Nayudu (in the 1930s), former Indian cricketer, Indian cricket team's first
captain in Test cricket
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[by whom?] 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.[35]
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,[36] who played for England in international cricket.
The Mumbai cricket team is the most-successful team, winning 42 titles.
In 1932, India played its maiden Test match under the captaincy of C. K. Nayudu 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.[37] 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.[38]
1945–1987
[edit]
Main articles: History of cricket in India from 1945–46 to 1960, History of cricket in India from 1960–61
to 1970, and History of cricket in India from 1970–71 to 1985
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.[39] The former India captain
Vijaya Ananda Gajapathi Raju, also known as Vizzy, was the BCCI president in the 1960s.[40]
In 1975, the BCCI paid ₹2,500 per match to the test cricketers. Banks, Indian railways and
private enterprises would recruit players.[41]
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
in latter series.
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.[42]
1987–2000
[edit]
Main article: History of cricket in India from 1985–86 to 2000
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.[43]
It hosted the ICC Cricket World Cup competitions in 1987 and 1996.[27][e]
In 1991, BCCI proposed South Africa's readmission to international cricket at the International
Cricket Council (ICC).[44] 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.[45] 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.[46][47] 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.[48][46] 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.
[49]
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,
[50]
yielding the ICC a profit of $50 million.[49]
In 1997, Dalmiya became the president of the ICC.[50] With Dalmiya at the head of the ICC, the
BCCI led a successful proposal to grant Test status to Bangladesh in 1999–2000.[51]
21st century
[edit]
Main article: History of cricket in India from 2000–01
Since 2000, the BCCI has hosted and organised multiple ICC cricket World Cups competitions
that is men's 2011 ODI world cup,[f] the 2023 ODI world cup, the 2016 T20 world cup, the 2006
ICC Champions Trophy and 2021 T20 world cups;[g] 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 rights of eight city-based
franchises to corporate groups and Bollywood celebrities in a closed auction for a total
of US$723.49 million;[52] 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.[53] In 2010, the BCCI expanded the league to 10 teams, selling two new franchises for a
total of US$703 million.[54] 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.[55][56]
In 2014, the BCCI, Cricket Australia and the England and Wales Cricket Board seized control of
several of the ICC's key committees to form the "Big Three". The foundation of the "Big Three"
would result in a complete remodelling of world cricket, with India, England, and Australia now
commanding most of cricket's revenue for the foreseeable future.[57][ISBN missing]
In 2019, the BCCI recognised retired players' union the Indian Cricketers' Association (ICA),
which was formed after the Supreme court appointed Lodha committee's recommendation to
form an independent organisation for welfare of nation's players. The board also includes this
union's one person as "ICA representative" in BCCI and IPL's apex governing council.[58]
On 14 February 2022, it laid foundation stone for new National Cricket Academy (NCA)
at Bangalore, which will replace old NCA located near M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Banglore.[59]
National teams
[edit]
Men Women
[edit] [edit]
India national cricket team India women's national cricket team
India national under-19 cricket team India women's national under-19 cricket team
India A cricket team India A women's cricket team
Affiliated associations and leagues
[edit]
Main article: List of members of the Board of Control for Cricket in India
Membership of the Board of Control for Cricket in India is made up of full and associate
members.[60][61] The majority of full members are state cricket associations. Each state is permitted
one representative, except for Gujarat and Maharashtra, which have three. There are additional
representatives from Indian Railways, Services and Universities. Changes recommended by
the Lodha Committee included restricting full membership to state associations and limiting
states to one full member, with the others becoming associate members,[62] but these have not
been fully adopted by the BCCI, with existing members retaining full membership except
for Cricket Club of India (Mumbai) and National Cricket Club (Kolkata).[63]
No. Name Represents President Zone
Andhra Cricket P. Sarath Chandra
1 Andhra Pradesh South
Association Reddy
Arunachal Cricket
2 Arunachal Pradesh TC Tok East
Association
Assam Cricket
3 Assam Taranga Gogoi East
Association
Association of Indian Vinay Kumar
4 Indian Universities –
Universities Pathak
5 Baroda Cricket Vadodara Pranav Amin West
No. Name Represents President Zone
Association
Bihar Cricket Rakesh Kumar
6 Bihar East
Association Tiwary
Chhattisgarh State
7 Chhattisgarh Jubin Shah Central
Cricket Sangh
Cricket Association of
8 West Bengal Snehasish Ganguly East
Bengal
Cricket Association of Lalrochhuanga
9 Mizoram East
Mizoram Pachuau
Cricket Association of
10 Uttarakhand Jot Singh Gunsola Central
Uttarakhand
Delhi & District Cricket
11 Delhi Rohan Jaitley North
Association
Goa Cricket
12 Goa Vipul Phadke South
Association
Gujarat
Gujarat Cricket
13 (excluding Saurashtra and Vadodara Dhanraj Nathwani West
Association
)
Haryana Cricket
14 Haryana Paramjit Mann North
Association
Himachal Pradesh
15 Himachal Pradesh Arun Dhumal North
Cricket Association
Hyderabad Cricket
16 Telangana Jagan Mohan Rao South
Association
Jammu & Kashmir
17 Jammu and Kashmir Anil Gupta North
Cricket Association
18 Jharkhand State Jharkhand Sanjay Sahay East
No. Name Represents President Zone
Cricket Association
Karnataka State Raghuram Bhat
19 Karnataka South
Cricket Association Adwai
Kerala Cricket
20 Kerala Jayesh George South
Association
Madhya Pradesh Abhilash
21 Madhya Pradesh Central
Cricket Association Khandekar
Maharashtra Cricket Maharashtra Rohit Rajendra
22 West
Association (excluding Mumbai and Vidarbha) Pawar
Manipur Cricket Nongthombam Zico
23 Manipur East
Association Meetei
Meghalaya Cricket
24 Meghalaya Danny Marak East
Association
Mumbai Cricket
25 Mumbai Amol Kale West
Association
Nagaland Cricket
26 Nagaland Kechangulie Rio East
Association
Odisha Cricket Pranab Prakash
27 Odisha East
Association Das
Punjab Cricket Gulzar Inder
28 Punjab North
Association Chahal
Railways Sports
29 Indian Railways D. K. Gayen Central
Promotion Board
Rajasthan Cricket
30 Rajasthan Vaibhav Gahlot Central
Association
31 Saurashtra Cricket Saurashtra Jaydev Shah West
No. Name Represents President Zone
Association
Services Sports
32 Indian Armed Forces Varun Singh North
Control Board
Sikkim Cricket
33 Sikkim Tika Subba East
Association
Tamil Nadu Cricket Dr. P. Ashok
34 Tamil Nadu South
Association Sigamani
Tripura Cricket
35 Tripura Tapan Lodh East
Association
Uttar Pradesh Cricket Dr. Nidhipati
36 Uttar Pradesh Central
Association Singhania
Vidarbha Cricket Central
37 Vidarbha Vinay Deshpande
Association
