GANGULY MAY BE NEXT BCCI CHIEF
Ganguly is considered a suitable candidate as he has the administrative experience with CAB, as well as great credibility in cricket circles, both in India and internationally
New Delhi, Jan. 3: Legendary batsman Sunil Gavaskar on Tuesday backed former India captain Sourav Ganguly to take over as interim president of BCCI following the sacking of Anurag Thakur from the top post by the Supreme Court.
Thakur and Ajay Shirke were on Monday removed as Board president and secretary respectively by the top court for their failure to implement the Justice R.M. Lodha committee’s recommendations on BCCI reforms. — Full report on Page 15
Even as the SC-appointed panel starts working on the transition plan for BCCI, one of the names doing the rounds for the post of president is former India captain and current Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) head, Sourav Ganguly.
He is considered a suitable candidate as he has the administrative experience with CAB, as well as great credibility in cricket circles, both in India and internationally.
Speculation is now mounting that the 44-yearold former India captain may be in line for the board’s top job. However, there is no clarity as of now on his position as he is not a vice-president of BCCI. Ganguly has threeyear tenure in office in CAB and hence could be ineligible for the post, according to sources.
But there are several reports both suggesting and endorsing Ganguly’s ascendancy. According to an India Today report, Sourav Ganguly seems to be the front-runner to replace Thakur. Even the
Economic Times suggests that Ganguly could be asked to run the BCCI with the help of other cricketer administrators. He has the former captain Sunil Gavaskar’s endorsement too.
Meanwhile, the BCCI has to nominate one among its five vice-presidents as the acting chief. At the moment, veteran Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) official CK Khanna, who is vice-president from Central Zone and VP for third time, is the most senior. Apart from Khanna, there is Gautam Roy of Assam Cricket Association, who is in his second term as vice president and has been ACA president from early 2000 to 2015.
But Delloitte’s internal report about Assam had been adverse and that was when Roy was president. However, both Khanna and Roy have been part of their respective state associations for more than a decade and will have to go into compulsory coolingoff period. The same applies for G. Ganga Raju, who had a decade long tenure at Andhra CA and may have to go for cooling-off.