Amurag Thakur
Anurag Thakur (L) got the backing of all the East Zone representatives. Pictured: BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur addresses a press conference to announce the India`s squad for the World T20 and Asia Cup in New Delhi on Feb 5, 2016.IANS

Soon after former Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Shashank Manohar vacated the seat, the name of Anurag Thakur came up for the post. And now, without any hiccup, the BCCI secretary has been unanimously elected as the new chief of India cricket's governing body.

The 41-year-old BJP MLA got the backing of all the east zone representatives — Assam, Bengal, Tripura, Jharkhand and the National Cricket Club.

Thakur secured the signatures of the zone units in his BCCI presidential nomination form. The formalities were completed on Saturday in the presence of Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) president Sourav Ganguly on Saturday.

Ajay Shirke, president of the Maharashtra Cricket Association, has been nominated for the post of the BCCI secretary as Thakur vacated that chair in order to take up the role of the president.

This will be a new challenge for Thakur as the board has been facing a lot of issues after the Supreme Court had ordered its officials to implement the Lodha Committee recommendations.

Manohar, who was recently elected as the chairman of the International Cricket Council (ICC), was given a farewell dinner.

BCCI welcomed its new president on Twitter as well: