Steering BCCI: Defend and attack

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

BCCI) notched up FY21 revenue of '4,739 crore, falling only marginally from '4,972 crore the year before, the government said in Parliament on August 8 in reply to a question. A year later, as normalcy returned, the BCCI's revenue surged to '7,606 crore, consolidating its position as the richest cricket administrator. It paid '1,159 crore in tax, up from '845 crore a year earlier.

And, this was not a post-pandemic pent-up demand surge, as was the case in many goods and services. The foundation for this fiscal performance was laid in October 2019. That's when BCCI saw a pivotal change, one that would herald the significant evolution of the world's wealthiest cricket board.

That's when former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly took over as president and Jay Shah, home minister Amit Shah's son, became secretary. The duo set about reinventing Indian cricket together until October 2022, when Ganguly stepped down. A right-handed batsman, Shah does not have Ganguly's cricketing pedigree, but he's shown the capability to defend well or go on the attack when needed for Indian cricket.

During this period, BCCI navigated the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, delivering Indian Premier League (IPL) events in India and abroad. The board also secured a record '48,390-crore IPL media rights deal, while adding teams from Lucknow and Ahmedabad to one of the biggest franchise competitions in the world. The ground-breaking IPL media rights agreement and the auction of the two new franchises catapulted the tournament's valuation to a staggering $11 billion.