Big responsibility, says Sourav Ganguly on becoming BCCI president

Former team India captain and Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) president Sourav Ganguly called his emergence a frontrunner in the BCCI president race as a "big responsibility" and a "great opportunity", in an interview to PTI. The events that transpired on Monday took many by surprise. According to multiple reports, quoting official BCCI sources, Ganguly became the consensus candidate after stiff resistance from multiple quarters against Brijesh Patel—assumed to have the strong backing of Tamil Nadu's N. Srinivasan. "Yes, Brijesh was running for the president's post with Srinivasan actively lobbying for him. However, there was stiff resistance against him. We are happy Sourav is the new president," a senior official from a northeast-affiliated unit, told PTI. 

“Finally, the decision was taken to bring Sourav on board. He will have just 10 months as president but he has a lot of experience as an administrator, considering he has efficiently headed the CAB. Moreover, under the Committee of Administrators (CoA), cricket has suffered badly, so someone like Ganguly will be instrumental in putting things back together,” sources told Times of India. The elections, the publication reported, are unlikely to be held in the next Annual General Meeting on October 23.

"Obviously, it's a great feeling as I have played for the country and captained the country," said Ganguly, speaking to PTI. "And I am taking over at a time when BCCI has not been in the greatest of position for the last three years. Its image has got hampered quite a lot. It is a great opportunity for me to do something good," he said. "We will speak to everyone first as we take a decision but my biggest priority will be to look after first class cricketers. I had requested that to the CoA for three years and they didn't listen. That is the first thing I will do—look after the financial health of our first-class cricketers," he told the agency. "You need to wait till 3pm in the afternoon," he said. 

It was widely assumed that Ganguly would not get the post after he met with Union Minister Amit Shah at his residence in New Delhi on Saturday. PTI reported on Sunday night that the former India captain was non-committal in joining the BJP and campaigning for them in the 2021 state assembly elections. That, the agency then reported, reversed the decision in favour of Patel. However, Ganguly claimed in the interview that nothing of the sort had happened. Amit Shah's son Jay Shah will be the new secretary while Arun Dhumal will be the new treasurer. Dhumal is younger brother of MoS Finance and former BCCI president Anurag Thakur. 

Patel could become the IPL chairman. When the new office bearers assume office, it will end a 33-month term of the CoA, which called shots in running the cricket affairs in country post Lodha Committee reforms. Former India coach Anhsuman Gaekwad beat Kirti Azad to be elected as male ICA representative on BCCI's nine-member Apex Council. Shanta Rangaswamy was earlier elected unopposed as female ICA representative. Ganguly will have to demit his CAB president post in September, 2020 as he will go into compulsory cooling off period.