Controversy Over Saurav Ganguly's Removal As BCCI President
Linus tackles things head-on. He takes sides in his analysis and it fits excellently with our editorial policy. No 'maybe's' and 'allegedly' for him, only things in black and white.
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By Linus Garg
First publised on 2022-10-18 06:38:58
About the Author
Linus tackles things head-on. He takes sides in his analysis and it fits excellently with our editorial policy. No 'maybe's' and 'allegedly' for him, only things in black and white.
View all posts by this Author
There is no doubt that the top posts in the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) are politically managed. This is not a recent phenomenon. In the past too, the ruling party at the Centre and in the states used to get its nominees, often politicians like Sharad Pawar, Madhavrao Scindia and Arun Jaitley, to name a few, to the top posts in the BCCI or its state affiliates.
But when the BCCI approached the Supreme Court a few weeks ago to allow the current post holders (mainly president Saurav Ganguly and secretary Jay Shah) to hold office for another term bypassing the new constitution of the body which prescribes a cooling-off period between two terms, it was clear that the BCCI wanted them to continue in office. But in the last fortnight, something snapped. Frontrunner for president, Ganguly, suddenly disappeared from the scene and the name of former Indian all-rounder Roger Binny started doing the rounds while Jay Shah seems set to enjoy another term as secretary.
This has led to intense speculation about what went wrong for the establishment to junk Ganguly's candidature (who was at one time even tipped to be in the running for the ICC president's post as the BCCI nominee). The TMC, including West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, has alleged that Ganguly is being punished for not agreeing to join the BJP as its face ahead of the state elections last year. They have said that the ruling establishment at the Centre, along with the big wigs in the BCCI, have insulted Dada, as Saurav is fondly known in cricketing circles. The former India captain has made no comments regarding the controversy apart from saying that no one can be an administrator forever and he will move onto something else. The something else for him is to run for president in the ensuing election in Cricket Association of Bengal and he looks set to head the state association for another term.
