Devajit Saikia

Devajit Saikia is an Indian advocate, a former first class cricketer and a cricket administrator. Saikia is the joint secretary of Board of Control for Cricket in India.

Devajit Saikia

Career

Born and raised in Guwahati, Saikia studied in Cotton College and went on to play in the Ranji Trophy for Assam cricket team. He was a wicket-keeper and a middle order batter.

He also served as the secretary of Assam Cricket Association. He is also the general secretary of Guwahati Sports Association, one of the oldest sports bodies in eastern India. Apart from that, Saikia is also the incumbent advocate general of Assam.

Early life

Saikia was born on April 19, 1969, to Tunga Bhadra Saikia and Dipika Saikia at Happy Villa, Uzan Bazar, Guwahati. Popularly called by his nick name ‘Lon’, he completed his schooling at Don Bosco School, Guwahati, where he passed his HSLC examination in 1984. His academic pursuits then took him to Cotton College under Gauhati University, where he graduated in 1990 in Economics, and Master’s Degree in Economics in 1994. Later on, he pursued law and obtained LLB degree from Old Earle Law College (now BRM Govt. Law College) in 1996, also under Gauhati University.

Legal career

Saikia enrolled as a lawyer under Bar Council of Assam and started legal practice at the Gauhati High Court in December 1997, marking the beginning of a distinguished legal career. Before embarking on this journey, he worked in NF Railway from 1989 to 1991 and then at the Reserve Bank of India (Guwahati) from 1991 to 1996. Both positions were secured through sports quota employment, reflecting his notable cricketing achievements.

In the initial years, Saikia had an extensive law practice in private matters from 1997 to 2004 with a variety of cases in writ jurisdiction, criminal law and insurance law.

From 2005 onwards, he represented the Assam Government in cases involving departments like Finance, Taxation, Health and Education. In 2009, he was appointed Additional Advocate General of Meghalaya, a position he held until 2011 (September). From 2011 to 2014, Saikia served as Additional Advocate General of Assam before having an unceremonious exit due to differences with the then Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi.

From 2005 onwards, he represented the Assam Government in cases involving departments like Finance, Taxation, Health and Education. In 2009, he was appointed Additional Advocate General of Meghalaya, a position he held until 2011 (September). From 2011 to 2014, Saikia served as Additional Advocate General of Assam before having an unceremonious exit due to differences with the then Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi.

During 2014–2016, he resumed private practice and handled several important public interest litigations, often causing discomfort to the ruling state government along with other constitutional, criminal and service matters for private litigants.

Devajit Saikia once again took the brief of the state government in July 2016 when he was appointed as Senior Additional Advocate General of Assam. In 2017, he had brief stint of two months as Advocate General of Assam (acting). Later on, he continued to hold the post of Senior Additional Advocate General Assam till December 2018 when he resigned from said post to make himself eligible to contest for the post of Secretary of Assam Cricket Association as under the eligibility norms of the association’s constitution, there existed, at the relevant point of time, a bar for anyone holding public office from contesting for any post of office bearers of the cricket association.

On May 21, 2021, he was appointed Advocate General of Assam, becoming the youngest to hold the position at 52 years and one month. And till date, he is holding the post of AG, Assam.

Cricket career

Saikia’s passion for cricket is well-documented and forms a significant part of his identity. His cricketing career began in earnest in 1984 when he represented Assam in the CK Nayudu Trophy for school cricket in Lucknow. A year later, he played in the Vijay Merchant Trophy for the Assam Under-15 team in Keenan Stadium Jamshedpur in which he scored an unbeaten 55 on debut. From 1986 to 1989, he represented Assam (Under-19) in the prestigious Cooch Behar Trophy. In 1987, Saikia had a memorable moment during the Vijay Hazare Trophy (Under-17), where he scored a century for Assam against Orissa in Kolkata, which earned him a slot in the East Zone team to participate in the national Vijay Hazare Trophy. In the said tournament, he played all three matches for the zone and helped the team win the championship in Kanpur in 1987-88. It’s significant to mention that players like Sourav Ganguly and Ranjib Biswal were his teammates in the zonal team.

In 1988, he also played for the Wills XI under the captainship of Maninder Singh in the now-defunct Wills Trophy.

By 1989, Saikia had been called up for Assam’s Ranji Trophy team and he was a part of it for four matches for the season 1989-90. In the next season, 1991, he made his Ranji debut and played four matches as a wicketkeeper and middle-order batter.

At 21, he gave up professional cricket in order to pursue his career in academics.

During his cricket career, he was a regular in the Rohinton Baria Trophy, where he represented Gauhati University for several seasons.

His career extended beyond the traditional formats of cricket. In 2003, Saikia represented various teams in six-a-side cricket tournaments across Asia and the UK. In 2004, he played for the Indian Lawyers Team in Colombo and Galle in Sri Lanka and also played in a lawyers' cricket tournament in London in 2005. His cricketing travels took him to the West Indies (Barbados and Trinidad & Tobago) in 2006, followed by a second tour of the UK. He participated in the Lawyers’ World Cup held in Cambridge and London in 2009, where the Indian team finished as runners-up to Australia. In 2015-16, he captained one of two Indian Lawyers Team in the Lawyers’ World Cup in Brisbane, Australia and continued representing the lawyers’ team in the 2017-18 Lawyers’ World Cup in Sri Lanka.

Sports administrator

Devajit Saikia’s foray into sports administration began in 2003 when he was elected Vice President of Gauhati Town Club (GTC), a century-year-old prestigious sports club in Eastern India, which is also considered a social institute of repute. In 2008, he was elected as General Secretary of GTC, with Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma as President. Together, they led the transformation of the club from a dilapidated state into a vibrant, modern sports institution. Under their leadership, several academies were established, including those for chess, boxing, football, and cricket, making GTC a hub of athletic development and revitalizing its stature in the sports community.

During this time, Saikia, along with four others, filed a Public Interest Litigation in the Gauhati High Court to restore the Judges' Field, which had become dominated by commercial and allied  activities except sports. Their legal battle aimed to return the field to its original purpose as a sports venue. After a hard-fought legal battle, they succeeded in restoring the Judges' Field to its pristine condition, equipped with proper sports infrastructure including flood light system, earthen galleries and designated exclusively for sports-related activities.

His tenure at GTC has been marked by numerous milestones. In 2010, the club inaugurated its new building and launched several sporting initiatives, including the Residential Football Academy and Cricket Centre of Excellence. That year also saw the establishment of the Swimming Centre and GTC Chess Academy. Further expansions included a Badminton Coaching Centre in 2014 and a Boxing Academy in 2021, inaugurated by Olympic medallist Lovlina Borgohain.

Saikia’s contributions to cricket administration were just as significant. In 2014, he successfully conducted a Public Interest Litigation to combat financial corruption and irregularities in team selection within the Assam Cricket Association (ACA). His efforts resulted in sweeping reforms, and by May 2016, the court barred one of the  incumbent office bearer from contesting elections. It can be mentioned that the association during that time was marred by large-scale allegations of mismanagement and corruption.

In June 2016, a new ACA committee was formed, with Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma as President and Saikia was elected as one of the six Vice Presidents.

Saikia briefly resigned from the post of Vice President of ACA in 2018 due to his indifferences with the then incumbent General Secretary of the association but later withdrew his resignation upon request from the Governing Body.

Between 2016 and 2018, one of Saikia's major contributions to the Assam Cricket Association (ACA) was his role in securing funds for the completion of the ACA Stadium in Barsapara and  ensuring continuation of cricket activities of the association, which was facing acute financial crisis due to halted funding from the BCCI amid ongoing litigation in the Supreme Court. That apart, he was also a part of the association’s legal team for drafting and enforcement of the new constitution.

He was also part of the core team of ACA which was  responsible for successfully hosting the first-ever T20 international match between India and Australia at the new ACA Stadium, Barsapara, in October 2017, followed by an ODI between India and the West Indies the next year.

In January 2019, Saikia was elected unopposed to the post of Secretary and a member of the first Apex Council of ACA under the new constitution. Once in that position, he, along with other members of the first Apex Council, were pioneer in initiating several path breaking reforms in Assam cricket, including the setting up of a well-equipped office set-up with professionals and financial experts to root out mismanagement and financial anomalies.

He along with the other members of the Apex Council also initiated various structural changes in conducting the cricket tournaments in Assam and its coaching programmes. Introduction of Assam Premier Club Championship, with over 6,500 registered players and over 300 clubs, inter-university tournament, inter – institution tournament were some significant moves for the association during his tenure.

One of Saikia's significant contributions as Secretary was revitalizing women's cricket in Assam. He aimed to provide women cricketers with ample opportunities to compete in structured formats, enabling them to excel and advance to higher levels. During his tenure, the Challengers Trophy for women cricketers and the inter-district cricket tournament for the Kanalata Barua Trophy were started,  creating pathways for greater participation and development.

He played a key role in establishing the ACA Cricket Academy in 2020, which has since become a centre of excellence, offering state-of-the-art facilities and world-class coaching staff. Since 2021, the Academy has been training young, aspiring cricketers through its residential coaching program. Saikia continues to serve as the Member Secretary of the Academy, contributing to its growth and success.

During his tenure of just over three years, including two years marked by the COVID-19 pandemic, Saikia's leadership resulted in the development of 23 cricket grounds with other cricket infrastructures across Assam. Notable among these are the Amingaon Cricket Ground (a First-Class venue), North Guwahati, Furkating Cricket Ground in Golaghat, the Tezpur University Ground, the Assam Agriculture University Ground, Umrangso Cricket Ground, Barpeta Cricket Stadium, Barhampur Cricket Ground, Nagaon. Other significant projects included infrastructure improvements at Nehru Stadium, Guwahati, Charaideo, Nazira, Mulukgaon, Dhubri, Biswanath among few others.

BCCI Joint Secretary

BCCI Joint Secretary Devajit Saikia (extreme left) with BCCI Secretary Jay Shah, BCCI President Roger Binny and others during the inauguration of the Centre of Excellence of National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru.

On October 18, 2022, he was elected Joint Secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and a member of the Apex Council of the Premier Sports Organization of the world. During his tenure as Secretary of BCCI, he was part of various path-breaking initiatives of the board under the leadership of Jay Shah.

Role at Guwahati Sports Association (GSA)

On May 6, 2023, Saikia was elected General Secretary of the Guwahati Sports Association (GSA). In this role, he spearheaded the introduction of a new constitution as the earlier one had lost its relevance to incorporate several essential reforms to adapt to the evolving tapestry of modern sports. Within two months, a revised constitution was drafted and implemented, leading to the resignation of the existing body re-election of a new one under the new constitution, with Saikia retaining his position as General Secretary for a tenure of four years.

In the initial months of his tenure at GSA, Saikia was pivotal in launching age-group tournaments to foster football development in Guwahati. GSA introduced the Youth and Kids League for players Under-7, 9, 11, 13, 15, and 17. Additionally, the association  separated club teams from office teams in the GSA league and restructured the league format into A, B, and C divisions, moving away from the previous Super League system.

Saikia also played a major role in the introduction of  a premier football tournament under the GSA banner – the Guwahati Premier League. This tournament achieved notable success in its inaugural year, fostering competition amongst regional football clubs and institutional teams successfully drawing crowds back to the iconic Judges' Field.

In another major development, Saikia on September 27 announced that the iconic Bordoloi Trophy football tournament will be revamped and will be organized in a new format from January 2025. It will be a three-month long tournament that will include more than 5,600 players from 284 clubs from every part of Assam.

Other activities

Saikia is renowned not only for his professional accomplishments but also for his adventurous spirit, which has taken him on remarkable expeditions around the world. In 2024, he embarked on a memorable journey across the historic Route 66 in the USA, riding a Harley Davidson and soaking in the rich culture and history along the iconic highway. A year earlier, in 2023, he completed an exhilarating ride through the challenging and breathtaking landscapes of Spiti Valley, a region known for its rugged terrain and remote beauty.

His passion for exploring diverse terrains dates back even further. In 2016, Saikia traversed the entire length of Ladakh, a feat that required endurance and skill, given the high-altitude roads and harsh conditions. He also ventured through Southern Thailand, visiting almost every corner on his bike, and embarked on an epic ride in 1998 from Northern France to the Eastern regions of the country, experiencing the varied scenery and culture firsthand.

Closer to home, Saikia has extensively explored the Northeastern region of India, covering most of the picturesque yet challenging terrains.

His love for adventure extends beyond biking, as he has completed several high-altitude treks. In 2019, he successfully trekked to the Everest Base Camp, a dream for many adventurers, and followed that up with the Annapurna Base Camp, Nepal in 2022. His earlier trek to the Dzongri Top Trail, one of the most challenging routes in India, in North Sikkim in 2015  and Sandakpu in 2001 further showcases his love for exploring the great outdoors.

In 2017, Saikia pushed his boundaries even further, taking a once-in-a-lifetime voyage to the North Pole, an expedition that requires immense determination, preparation, and resilience.