Devajit Saikia (R in pic 1) and Prabhtej Singh Bhatia were appointed as BCCI’s new secretary and treasurer respectively on Sunday. (X)
Devajit Saikia, an advocate and a former wicket-keeper batsman from Assam, would succeed Jay Shah as the new secretary of the Indian cricket board (BCCI). He was elected unopposed—a poll was not contested as there were no contestants, electoral officer A K Joti stated in his declaration of results—to the seat left vacant after Shah assumed the office of the International Cricket Council chairman in December last year. Saikia will remain in his post for the next ten months, until the next round of elections for the office-bearers.
Similarly, Prabhtej Singh Bhatia from Chhattisgarh State Cricket Sangh (CSCS) would be the new treasurer as he replaced Ashish Shelar, who became the Information and Technology minister in Maharashtra government. Both are relatively unfamiliar names, but come with a wealth of experience in multiple streams.
As a cricketer, Saikia’s career lasted one season and four games, which yielded only 53 runs in six innings, eight catches and a stumping. Soon, he burned his cricketing ambitions and traded the gloves and bat for a degree in law. In 1997, six years after his last Ranji game at the age of 21, he quit his job at the Reserve Bank of India and began legal practice, specialising in criminal and insurance laws. at the Guwahati High Court.
But his ties with the game remained, as he continued participating in six-a-side tournaments and club games in the state as well Indian Lawyers’ Teams. But the breakthrough moment came when he took on Assam Cricket Association (ACA), alleging that the association had misappropriated funds. After years of legal tussles and more allegations, a new regime took over the association, with Saikia as its secretary, in 2019. Two years later, he was appointed the state’s youngest ever Advocate General of Assam.
New team in @BCCI . Welcome Devjit Saikia and Prabhtej Bhatia pic.twitter.com/uadE06kpHI
— Rajeev Shukla (@ShuklaRajiv) January 12, 2025
A classmate of Assam’s Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, he was appointed as senior standing counsel of the State in 2019 and represented the government in the High Court and Supreme Court. Apart from cricket association, he is into administrating other sports bodies too. He is the secretary of the 115-year-old Guwahati Town Club as well as the Guwahati Sports. An adventure enthusiast, he rode a Harley Davidson along the famous Route 66. He regularly hits the Manali-Spiti Valley route too.
In 2022, he was elected joint-secretary of the BCCI. When Shah vacated, he became the acting secretary till the board found its outgoing secretary’s nomination. Now, he succeeds Shah in a crucial time for Indian cricket, when the red-ball team is in flux and the captain-coach combo of Rohit Sharma and Gautam Gambhir under intense scrutiny. As the secretary, he would oversee the team selection, apart from handling the board’s day-to-day affairs.
Beer baron
Unlike Saikia, Prabhtej does not wear too many hats. Son of former CSCS president Baldev Singh Bhatia, who played an important role in the State getting full-member status in 2016, he has served as Apex Council member in BCCI’s 2019-2022 tenure. He was among the three-member committee that probed into the allegation of Wriddhiman Saha receiving threats from a journalist. The 33-year-old, though, has not held any posts since.
He is the co-founder and CEO of Simba Beer. His family has been in the liquor distribution industry for several decades, after his grandfather opened a liquor shop in Rajnandgaon, where he settled after partition, in 1948. He was doing his undergraduate degree in Economics and Finance at the Exeter University when the idea of starting a craft beer firm in India—his was one of the firsts to tap into the boom—struck him. In 2014, his dream materialised, despite his father’s suggestion to open a distillery or a winery. Last financial year, it generated an annual revenue of 30.6 million dollars. His favourite brew, though, is Silver Moon, a premier green tea brand.
The two took official charge of their office during its special general body meeting in Mumbai. “The two (02) elective posts of the office-bearers – secretary and treasurer were uncontested, and it was not necessary to conduct a poll in respect of these Two (02) Posts,” stated Joti in his declaration of results.
I’m Manas Ranjan Sahoo: Founder of “Webtirety Software”. I’m a Full-time Software Professional and an aspiring entrepreneur, dedicated to growing this platform as large as possible. I love to Write Blogs on Software, Mobile applications, Web Technology, eCommerce, SEO, and about My experience with Life.
