The Supreme Court has pulled up the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for “monopolising” cricket in the country and said several youngsters wanting to be Dhonis and Kohlis are not given equal opportunity if they are not on the right side of the cricket body.

The apex court also appointed senior advocate Gopal Subramanium as amicus curiae in the matter and sought his assistance to explore as to how the recommendations of Justice RM Lodha committee favouring large-scale structural reforms, which BCCI and other boards have been resisting, could be implemented.

• The bench, also comprising Justice FMI Kalifulla, expressed anguish over the cricket body running a “prohibitory regime and monopolising cricket” across the country, saying no one can play the game without its nod.
• The court said it fails to understand why there should be any problem to anyone because Justice R M Lodha-led committee has opened the membership to other states and recommended one state-one vote.
• The bench made it clear to Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA), which has expressed its reservations to one state-one vote formula, that it is not concerned with any state associations.
• The amicus curiae’s findings are not bindable to the court but are taken seriously as the court itself asked for the assistance.
• Subramanium is a high-profile and widely respected senior advocate who also served as the solicitor general of India from 2009 to 2011.