Passing away of their ex colleague, Ravindra Thodge, has been a cause of real distress and shock for former members of the Committee of Administrators (COA) Vinod Rai, the committee chairman, and Diana Edulji. 

Thodge, former Master General Ordnance in the Indian Army, Lt Gen (retd), breathe his last at the age of 64 on Friday (July 10) at a private hospital in Nagpur after a brief illness. He was the third member of COA after Rai, a former Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), and former India women's team captain, Edulji. 

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The panel, formed by the Supreme Court of India to ensure the implementation of the Lodha committee reforms in Indian cricket, exited the scene last year at the conclusion of the BCCI elections. 

"I'm obviously very distressed and disturbed to hear about it (Thodge's death), because it was so sudden and he was a person in good health," Rai told the Times of India. 

"He was a man who was totally dedicated to the game. In the short time that he was with us in the CoA, he tried to introduce a large number of transparency measures, try and help accounting procedures and have all the states come on board to adopt the Lodha reforms," he added. 

Edulji echoed Rai's sentiment, expressing shock at Thodge's demise. 

"I am shocked to hear the sad news of the passing away of Lt. Gen. Thodge. May his soul rest in peace and God give the family strength to bear this huge loss," she said. 

(Inputs from TOI)