Will the BCCI’s reforms promise better days for the future?

Following the removal of Roger Binny from the Board of Control for Cricket in India and Ravi Shastri's ousting form the Indian Premier League's Governing Council, newly appointed BCCI president Shashank Manohar has shown promise to restructure one of cricket's most influential and richest boards after it's recently held Annual General Meeting in Mumbai.

Manohar, taking over from the controversial N Srinivasan as the BCCIs boss, looks set for a fresh start that could change the face of India cricket after a long history of scandals and issues. His 29-point agenda, which is aimed at removing conflict of interest at all levels within the BCCI, will exclude cricketers under the BCCIs payroll or holding contracts with the board from BCCI committees. This is a major step after past history involving Srinivasan's interference with player selection, IPL spot-fixing and betting cases, besides numerous other allegations.

Roger Binny's removal from a national selector has created a stir among a section of the crowd who still feel that he deserves to hold his place, although the situation was handled cautiously by Shashank Manohar who himself stated that the decision was taken to protect Roger's son Stuart Binny's career.

Past Annual General Meetings organised by the Board of Control for Cricket in India have failed to yield positive results and any agendas discussed always appeared to have a political motive behind them. Under N Srinivasan's rule from 2011 to early 2014, a series of events had taken place, shaking the cricketing world with one of the most prominent being the arrest of his son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan in May, 2014 for his connection with illegal betting in the IPL.

Following Shashank Manohar's appointment, encouraging news for the Northeast is that the BCCI has serious plans of developing cricket in the region which will also include Meghalaya. This was expressed by the board's secretary Anurag Thakur during his visit to the city. Thankur further announced a sanction of Rs. 50 lakhs for construction of an indoor training facility.

Manohar has been regarded as a clean leader who refused to be a part of the BCCI under Srinivasan's reign but now that he's finally assumed position, cricket loyalists will know that a complete reformation of Indian cricket is just around the corner.