BCCI elects Thakur as president

MUMBAI — Lawmaker Anurag Thakur was elected Sunday as the youngest-ever head of India’s embattled cricket board, charged with reforming one of the most powerful organizations in world sport. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) posted pictures on Twitter of its members congratulating the 41-year-old Thakur after electing him to the presidency at a meeting in Mumbai. “Congratulations Mr. President,” the BCCI said in a tweet, posting a picture of Thakur shaking hands with members at the meeting. A BCCI spokesman also confirmed the appointment. Thakur, who is a member of parliament for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and a close ally of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, succeeds Shashank Manohar. Manohar stepped down earlier this month to become the first independent chairman of the International Cricket Council (ICC). Thakur, who was secretary of the cash-rich BCCI, was the sole nomination Sunday for the top post, seen by many as the most powerful in global cricket. The board benefits from huge TV deals that allow it effectively to run the world governing body — the ICC — along with its allies, Australia and England. However under reforms that Manohar had himself supported, it is no longer possible to be both ICC chairman and to head the national board of a member country. Thakur, a three-time MP in Himachal Pradesh state, has been involved with the BCCI since he was elected president of his state association aged just 25. Last year he pipped the incumbent to the secretary’s post by a single vote. — AFP