The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced Rahul Johri as its first-ever chief executive officer (CEO). Mr. Johri, after spending two decades in the media industry, will join the board on June 1.

• Mr. Johri quit Discovery Networks after spending 15 years with the broadcasting major. He was Discovery Networks Asia Pacific’s executive vice-president and general manager for south Asia.
• Mr. Johri will report to the BCCI secretary. It remains to be seen if he will be given freedom to work independently in a set-up that’s traditionally controlled by honorary office-bearers.
• A CEO appointment was among the key recommendations of the three-member Justice RM Lodha Committee, appointed by the Supreme Court to suggest administrative reforms in Indian cricket.
• While the Lodha panel recommendations are still being debated in the apex court, the BCCI has appointed Mr. Johri after rigorously scanning candidates through a professional head-hunting agency.

In 2005, soon after taking over as BCCI chief for the first time, Sharad Pawar recommended the appointment of a CEO. However, since the BCCI rulebook handed all the powers of a chief executive to the secretary, the proposal wasn’t approved and Ratnakar Shetty was appointed as the chief administrative officer.