Who is Mithun Manhas? - Frontrunner for BCCI president's post

Mithun Manhas is in line to become BCCI president at next Sunday's AGM (Annual General Meeting) in New Delhi. He filed his nomination for the BCCI presidency on Sunday, September 21, the final day for filing papers in the election process. Manhas is expected to claim the post unopposed.

Former India Test cricketer Raghuram Bhatt was also in contention till the last minute, but he eventually had to be content with the role of a treasurer. Other important off-bearers, including secretary Devajit Saikia and IPL chairman Arun Dhumal are set to continue in their roles.

Coming to Manhas, he will become the first uncapped cricketer to spearhead the country's most powerful body. The right-handed batter played 55 matches in the IPL, scoring 514 runs at an average of 22.35. He was a part of Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals), Pune Warriors India, and Chennai Super Kings. Manhas was a primarily a batter who could bowl handy off-spin. The Bhalessa-born could also keep wickets if required.

In other domestic tournaments, he represented Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir. In 157 first-class games, he amassed 9714 runs at an average of 45.82. Meanwhile, in List A cricket, he played 130 matches, aggregating 4126 runs at an average of 45.84. He took 40 and 25 wickets in the two formats, respectively.

Manhas led Delhi when they ended their title drought in 2007-2008. In September 2015, Manhas joined Jammu and Kashmir.

Manhas, who will celebrate his 46th birthday on October 12, was appointed as the assistant coach of King XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) in 2017. He joined Bangladesh as a batting consultant in October 2017 and worked in that role till 2019.

Following this stint, Manhas joined Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), where he was appointed as the assistant coach for the 20199 edition of the IPL. Manhas moved to Gujarat Titans in IPL 2022, signing as an assistant coach.

Manhas is set to take over the reins from current BCCI president, Roger Binny, whose tenure began on October 18, 2022, after succeeding Sourav Ganguly.