Former Indian skipper, Sourav Ganguly is now on the verge of becoming next BCCI president and after his nomination, he said “it’s a great opportunity for him to do something good” as he is taking over the reins of the board at a time when its reputation is a bit tainted.
Ganguly pipped Brijesh Patel in a see-saw battle and is expected to be the only presidential nominee. During an interaction with PTI, he said, “Obviously, it’s a great feeling as I have played for the country and captained the country. And I am taking over at a time when BCCI has not been in greatest of position for the last three years. Its image has got hampered quite a lot. It’s a great opportunity for me to do something good.”
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Dada will have to demit office in July, due to compulsory cooling-off period. He also said his first priority in the short tenure would be to look after “first-class cricketers”. Ganguly plans to meet all the stakeholders in Indian cricket and wants to do something that the Committee of Administrators (CoA) didn’t do for 33 months.
Ganguly further explained, “We will speak to everyone first as we make 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. Whether unopposed or not, there has to be responsive as it is the biggest organization in world cricket. Financially, India is a cricketing powerhouse, so it will be a challenge.”
The former Indian skipper has no regrets of not being able to serve for long. For someone, who has won many close ODIs for India, Ganguly was emotionally intrigued by how the board room politics worked. Jagmohan Dalmiya has pulled off some amazing board room coups and talking about the late BCCI boss, Ganguly got emotional.
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Dad said he wants to bring normalcy back in the BCCI, adding that he never expressed any aspiration to become the BCCI President. He said, “Hopefully in the next few months, we can put everything in place and bring back normalcy in Indian cricket. I had never expressed my aspirations for this post. I never spoke to anyone. until 10:30 in the night yesterday, I was not aware of this. Then I was informed that I have to be President of the BCCI.”