No better person than Sourav Ganguly to lead BCCI: Vinod Rai

NEW DELHI: After an eventful 33-month tenure, during which he was witness to the “Good, the Bad and the Ugly” of Indian cricket, Committee of Administrators chief Vinod Rai is happy that someone of Sourav Ganguly’s stature is taking over the reins of Indian cricket. “I have great respect for Sourav... My respect for him grew even more watching him efficiently manage the Cricket Association of Bengal and the fact that cricketer of that capability and distinction will be running the BCCI,” Rai added. He also spoke about his satisfaction that there are four former players in major administration now. “There is Sourav (Ganguly) as BCCI president, IPL chairman is Brijesh Patel, Anshuman Gaekwad and Shantha Rangaswamy are in the Apex Council.” He further added: “We have been able to create a Players’ Association, which wasn’t initially being accepted. We had women’s IPL, even though on a smaller scale but the matches were of high quality. We have been totally transparent. The minutes of 100-plus COA meetings (status reports) are available on the board’s website.” Asked on the perception that he gave Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri a free hand, he said: “Well, much can be said about it. If the head coach and the captain are given free hand what’s wrong with that? I was very clear that we won’t interfere in the selection process and the cricketing matters.” On his differences with fellow COA member Diana Edulji, he said: “We had two major disagreements — the Johri sexual harassment case and the issue with the Mithali Raj-ramesh Powar fall-out.”