Saina Nehwal and Rahul Dravid Nominated to 2030 Commonwealth Games Organising Board

Olympic medal winner Saina Nehwal and former captain of the Indian cricket team Rahul Dravid have been nominated as members of the Organizing Company Board for the 2030 Commonwealth Games. They have both been nominated by the Union Sports Ministry as representatives of the sporting community. The board will help manage the preparations for the 2030 edition which will be hosted in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. Two members from the private sector have also been nominated.

2030 Commonwealth Games Key Appointments

Saina Nehwal and Rahul Dravid have been nominated as representatives of the sporting community by the Union Sports Ministry.

Two members of the private sector have also been nominated,

• Jinal Mehta: Owner of the Gujarat Titans IPL Franchise and Managing Director of Torrent Power.
• Ananya Birla: Second private sector member.

The board has the following nominations:

Role	Name
Chairperson (proposed)	Harsh Sanghavi (Deputy Chief Minister of Gujarat)
Vice Chairperson	Hari Ranjan Rao (Union Sports Secretary)
Vice Chairperson	PT Usha (President of Indian Olympic Association)
Chief Executive Officer (CEO)	M. Thennarasan (Senior Gujarat Government Bureaucrat)
Sporting Community Members	Saina Nehwal and Rahul Dravid.
Private Sector Members	Jinal Mehta and Ananya Birla.

These nominations ensure that there is representation from athletes and private sector.

2030 Commonwealth Games

The 2030 Commonwealth Games will take place in Ahmedabad.

There will be 17 sports featured. It will be the first time since the 2010 edition that the Commonwealth Games will be held in India.

It will give an opportunity to show off India’s sporting facilities and organizations and will help to establish Ahmedabad as a global sporting host city.

Why have Athletes and Private Sector Members Been Included?

The organizing board will include members from various sectors.

There will be members from the sporting community due to Saina Nehwal and Rahul Dravid’s experience within international sport.

This will mean there will be an athlete-focused approach to how they prepare for the games, organize competitions and what sporting requirements there are.

There will also be members from the private sector meaning that they will have experience in managing businesses, dealing with finances, infrastructure and organization.

This is also a change from the 2010 Commonwealth Games Organizing Committee. There were no members from the sporting community or private sector.

The 2010 Delhi Games had allegations of corruption and financial issues. Therefore, the 2030 Games are looking to have more diverse members on their board.

Saina Nehwal’s Achievements in the Commonwealth Games

Saina Nehwal is an Indian badminton player and Olympic medal winner. She played a key role in helping to popularise badminton in India.

She won gold in the women’s singles badminton event at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.

She won the final against Wong Mew Choo of Malaysia in three games after losing the first game. This made her the first Indian woman to ever win gold in the women’s singles badminton event.

This helped India perform well at the 2010 games, finishing second in the medal table with 101 medals.

Some key achievements include:

Bronze in women’s singles badminton at the 2012 London Olympics.

• Gold in the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
• Gold in the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
• Former World Number 1 in women’s singles badminton.

Rahul Dravid’s Contribution to Indian Sport

Rahul Dravid is a former captain of the Indian cricket team and head coach. He is well known for his contribution to Indian cricket.

Outside of cricket, he has also been involved with programmes to help develop Olympic and Paralympic athletes. In 2014 he became a member of the Board of Advisors for the GoSports Foundation. This is a non-profit organisation aiming to help Indian athletes.

His nomination to the Organising Company Board for the 2030 Commonwealth Games means there will be a former international athlete and coach involved in the governance of the event.