Sourav Ganguly, Mamata Banerjee's Choice, Non-Committal on Bengal's Vote in BCCI Presidential Election
Sourav Ganguly succeeded Jagmohan Dalmiya as president of Cricket Association of Bengal after state chief minister Mamata Banerjee stepped in to quell any opposition to the former Test captain of India.
- Soumitra Bose
- Updated: September 25, 2015 01:54 pm IST
Sourav Ganguly is surely learning the tricks of cricket diplomacy and quickly. The first signs of his growing maturity as a sports administrator came within hours of his appointment as president of the Cricket Association of Bengal on Thursday evening. (Mamata Banerjee Paves Way for Sourav Ganguly to Become Bengal Cricket Boss)
Ganguly, who was never very comfortable with the short-pitched ball, ducked a question on whom Bengal will vote to become the next president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India. (Mamata Banerjee Tells Bengal Cricket to Accept Ganguly As New Chief)
The president's chair in BCCI is lying vacant after the death of Jagmohan Dalmiya on Sunday. It is East Zone's turn to nominate a Board president and Ganguly could be controlling two crucial votes - Bengal and National Cricket Club -- in a six-member zonal block. (N Srinivasan Feels Election Will Add Bitterness in BCCI)
In an exclusive interview to NDTV, Ganguly dropped no hint of his choice for the presidential post. "You are asking too many questions...whatever is good for cricket will happen," Ganguly said, steering clear of any debate on the BCCI's next boss. (N Srinivasan's Meeting with Sharad Pawar Yields No Results)
© PTI
Reportedly, East Zone is backing Jharkhand's Amitabh Choudhary, but in BCCI's flexible politics, nothing is clear till the nomination papers are filed. Choudhary is known to be a N. Srinivasan loyalist but with BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur apparently backing IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla as the next BCCI president, East seems to be split.
Ganguly, who has been a CAB joint secretary for just over a year, has shown maturity in not indicating Bengal's choice for the BCCI president's job. Next week, 43-year-old Ganguly will be summoning a special general meeting of the CAB to formalise his appointment as president of the state association and reshuffle the office-bearers line-up to accommodate Dalmiya's son, Avishek, another Mamata Banerjee choice.
The West Bengal chief minister played a crucial role in helping Ganguly become CAB president. On Thursday, Mamata summoned Ganguly, Avishek Dalmiya and two crucial office-bearers of the association - joint secretary Subir Ganguly and treasurer Biswarup Dey - at her office and struck a consensus. Winning Dey's support was crucial as he has his many supporters after having served the CAB for a decade.
Ganguly said that CAB was a well-run organization and he had already put certain developmental plans in place in club cricket. "(But) we need to ensure that Bengal play well in the Ranji Trophy. We haven't been doing well lately," Ganguly said, clearly hinting that cricket will get priority over politicking.
It is unlikely that Ganguly will not get sucked into the vortex of politics in Indian cricket. He has seen enough bitterness - especially with Greg Chappell in 2005-2006 -- while he was captain of Team India. Even his last Test match in Nagpur in November 2008 against Australia was a compromise and apparently blessed by then BCCI president Shashank Manohar, who had just succeeded Sharad Pawar.
Interestingly, Pawar is eyeing Dalmiya's chair again and reportedly has the support of Manohar and N. Srinivasan. Can Ganguly steer clear of politics in cricket? May be, he will need to visit Mamata Banerjee again for some help.