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Re-christening BCCI: 5 names Anurag Thakur could consider for Indian cricket board

Speed News Desk | Updated on: 10 February 2017, 1:49 IST

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), one of the richest cricket bodies in the world, is witnessing a significant overhaul at the helm of its youngest-ever president, Anurag Thakur.

After chairing the first working committee meeting as president, Thakur announced the appointment of Anil Kumble as India's new head coach.

On the other hand, Sanjay Bangar was roped in as Team India's batting coach for the upcoming tour of West Indies.

Among numerous other developments, Thakur also floated the proposal to change the name of the Indian cricket board. The revolutionary proposal to change the name was launched back in 1928, but it failed to draw general consensus over the years.

"Yes, I had put forward this idea in the meeting today (24 June). I think the word 'Control' should be replaced by 'Care'. We want to do away with the word 'Control.' We want to care for our fans, players, coaches, selectors, administrators and all the other stakeholders who matter in cricket," Thakur told the Times of India.

The proposal evoked a positive response from some of the Board members, but a handful of old-time members seemed hesitant about changing the name of an 88-year-old body.

While the proposal is due to be discussed further in the next board meetings, here's a look at some of possible names that the BCCI could consider:

Indian Cricket Board (ICB)

An obvious choice, this. The cricket world has already seen numerous other countries following a similar pattern in the name of their respective boards. Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), England Cricket Board (ECB), Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) and West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) are a few examples.

Though its repeated use might decrease its chances of being considered, but Indian Cricket Board (ICB) in place of BCCI wouldn't sound bad either.

Cricket India (CI)

This is another short and simple name that comes to mind. The name 'Cricket India' is inspired from the other cricketing boards - namely Cricket Australia (CA), Cricket South Africa (CSA) and Cricket Kenya (CK).

The Australian cricket board had also changed its name from Australian Cricket Board (ACB) to Cricket Australia in 2003. The Oz board has had three different names since its foundation: Australian Board of Control for International Cricket (1905-1973), Australian Cricket Board (1973-2003) and Cricket Australia (2003-present).

The Indian board could follow the footsteps of Cricket Australia to change its lengthy name to something much simpler and easy to remember.

India Cricket (IC)

This format is common among a number of cricketing nations. Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) and New Zealand Cricket (NZC) have been using this pattern in the names of their respective cricket boards.

The BCCI have been using a long name with a lengthy full-form for the past 88-years, maybe it's time to choose something short like India Cricket.

Indian Cricket Union (ICU)

This is definitely an uncommon choice. In fact, the Zamibia Cricket Union (ZCU) is the only cricket board to have been using this pattern in their name.

Though associating a team with India's stature with a term like ICU may take some time to get used to, the only problem with using 'Union' in the Board's name is that it generally sounds communist. This means that the BCCI might avoid it due to its controversial nature.

Board of Care for Cricket in India (BCCI)

Lastly, a small change in the full-form, while the acronym remains the same. The BCCI supremo himself advocated for this name during the recent working committee meeting.

Anurag Thakur stressed on the great need to do away with the word 'Control' in the name of the Board. He insisted that the word 'Care' was more suited for the board of a country where cricket is a religion and cricketers are worshipped as gods by the fans.

Whether the change of name is really about caring for the cricket fans or just an act of restoring the image of the Board marred with corruption, this name is surely going to be one of the top choices when the proposal is discussed in full length during the next working committee meeting.

First published: 26 June 2016, 3:24 IST