Jagmohan Dalmiya is to be Indian cricket's first Patron-in-Chief, a post that could enable him to retain control over the cash-rich BCCI even after his term as president ends later this month.
Dalmiya, a former head of the world governing body International Cricket Council (ICC), is to be replaced as president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) when his three-year term ends on September 29.
"Jagmohan Dalmiya has been made the first Patron-in-Chief of the BCCI," Kamal Morarka, a board vice president announced in the Madras after a special meeting on Sunday.
"It's always been in our constitution that we can appoint a patron or patrons. The provision was not used for the last 75 years but now Dalmiya has been unanimously appointed for the next three years."
The move had been expected and a court in the central city of Bhopal on Saturday directed the BCCI not to "act in any manner contrary to its rules and regulations" after a case was filed by a member of the city's local cricket association.
But Morarka said there was nothing extraordinary about the decision. He said a formal ruling on the extent of Dalmiya's powers in his new role would be made in the board's general body meeting later this month.