Devajit Saikia Appointed As BCCI's Acting Secretary, Replaces Jay Shah

Devajit Saikia has been appointed as the BCCI's acting secretary by Board President Roger Binny, replacing Jay Shah who recently took over as the new ICC President.

Saikia, who hails from Assam, is a former first-class cricketer. He is currently the BCCI joint secretary.

Binny used his constitutional powers to appoint Saikia as acting secretary in a stop-gap arrangement till a permanent secretary is appointed under BCCI rules and regulations.

In a letter addressed to Saikia, Binny cited clause 7(1) (d) of the BCCI constitution to hand secretarial powers to the Assam official, who is also the Advocate General of the state.

"The president shall in the event of vacancy or indisposition shall delegate the functions to another office bearer until the vacancy is duly filled up or indisposition ceases.

"Accordingly, I delegate the functions of secretary to you till the post is filled up by processes laid down as per BCCI rules and regulations. I am confident you will perform the duties to the best of your abilities and with aplomb," Binny wrote to Saikia.

It is understood that Saikia will continue in this role till September next year before the vacancy is permanently filled up.

Notably, Saikia was also present at the ICC's recent meetings in Dubai.

Shah ended his successful stint as BCCI secretary, a role which he took in October 2019.

Shah worked on different aspects during his time as the BCCI secretary. He gave special emphasis on domestic cricket and also equalled the match fees of the women's players to that of the men's players.

Shah also played a huge hand in conducting the IPL 2020 amidst COVID-19 as his biggest achievement. "The Olympics, English Premier League and French Open had already been postponed/cancelled. We created an isolation bubble within which we conducted the tournament. We demonstrated to the world what BCCI could achieve," Shah had said earlier in the year.

On the other hand, women's cricket got a major boost with the first two successful editions of the Women's Premier League.