Cricket and politics have always made for strange bedfellows in India, but a few eyebrows were still raised when the Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee announced the appointment of former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly as the new president of the Cricket Association of Bengal after the death of Jagmohan Dalmiya. What seemed even more striking was that it was an appointment without sign of an election.
"Please don't involve the state government here. I am nobody”, said Banerjee. “It's what they decided. Please don't bring any controversy here. It's their decision as they all are cricket lovers."
A political appointment?
But if that was the case, then what was the need for the head of the state government to take out time and organise a press conference just to announce the head of a cricketing body, hardly a matter of pressing concern for the state? If it was just a routine press conference, why was the West Bengal sport minister Aroop Biswas present with the chief minister? And is it not quite convenient that the announcement came just two days after the former cricket captain met the West Bengal chief minister?
This is not to question Ganguly’s suitability as Cricket Association of Bengal chief, but more about the hurried nature of his elevation. The former Indian captain has been juggling many hats of recently – secretary of the CAB, part of a cricket advisory committee of the Board of Control for Cricket, part-owner of Indian Super League team Atletico De Kolkata, reality show host, media commitments for various organisations. While carrying out his duties as the next CAB chief, Ganguly will have to be very careful that he is not accused of conflict of interest – a term which has become a hot potato in the Indian cricket corridors after the Srinvasan saga.
Bad precedent
However, the absence of an election, that too for a post as important as CAB president, is a bad precedent. Despite all the criticism the BCCI faces, there are at least regular elections held for the posts of its office-bearers. It is inconceivable that such an event like this would happen for the post of BCCI President – for example, Narendra Modi would hopefully never hold a press conference to announce the appointment of a new BCCI President. However many times, Banerjee and Ganguly insist that the appointment be not seen through a political prism, questions will be raised. Despite his popularity as a captain, Ganguly was not a universally backed candidate for the CAB top post. Since those who opposed Ganguly’s candidacy did not even get a chance to back their own candidate, there is every likelihood that Ganguly may find it difficult to get things done the way he would like.
These sequence of events are however, just a part of a larger succession race, happening within the BCCI for the post of President. When elected as president of the BCCI back in 2014, Dalmiya’s strength was his neutrality – he was not favourably disposed towards any particular faction and thus was the perfect “consensus candidate” in a divided BCCI. But with his death, that uncertain peace has been broken and not a day goes by without reports of hush-hush meetings and parleys between opposing factions. While initially it was expected that the race for the top post would come down between two factions led by Maharashtra strongman Sharad Pawar and N Srinivasan, equations suddenly changed when reports of a meeting between the two came to light on Wednesday, September 23, supposedly to scuttle BJP member of Parliament Anurag Thakur’s chances.
As in Indian politics, there are no permanent friends or enemies in Indian cricket. Things are poised for a very interesting succession battle in the corridors of Indian cricket. Watch this space.
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"Please don't involve the state government here. I am nobody”, said Banerjee. “It's what they decided. Please don't bring any controversy here. It's their decision as they all are cricket lovers."
A political appointment?
But if that was the case, then what was the need for the head of the state government to take out time and organise a press conference just to announce the head of a cricketing body, hardly a matter of pressing concern for the state? If it was just a routine press conference, why was the West Bengal sport minister Aroop Biswas present with the chief minister? And is it not quite convenient that the announcement came just two days after the former cricket captain met the West Bengal chief minister?
This is not to question Ganguly’s suitability as Cricket Association of Bengal chief, but more about the hurried nature of his elevation. The former Indian captain has been juggling many hats of recently – secretary of the CAB, part of a cricket advisory committee of the Board of Control for Cricket, part-owner of Indian Super League team Atletico De Kolkata, reality show host, media commitments for various organisations. While carrying out his duties as the next CAB chief, Ganguly will have to be very careful that he is not accused of conflict of interest – a term which has become a hot potato in the Indian cricket corridors after the Srinvasan saga.
Bad precedent
However, the absence of an election, that too for a post as important as CAB president, is a bad precedent. Despite all the criticism the BCCI faces, there are at least regular elections held for the posts of its office-bearers. It is inconceivable that such an event like this would happen for the post of BCCI President – for example, Narendra Modi would hopefully never hold a press conference to announce the appointment of a new BCCI President. However many times, Banerjee and Ganguly insist that the appointment be not seen through a political prism, questions will be raised. Despite his popularity as a captain, Ganguly was not a universally backed candidate for the CAB top post. Since those who opposed Ganguly’s candidacy did not even get a chance to back their own candidate, there is every likelihood that Ganguly may find it difficult to get things done the way he would like.
These sequence of events are however, just a part of a larger succession race, happening within the BCCI for the post of President. When elected as president of the BCCI back in 2014, Dalmiya’s strength was his neutrality – he was not favourably disposed towards any particular faction and thus was the perfect “consensus candidate” in a divided BCCI. But with his death, that uncertain peace has been broken and not a day goes by without reports of hush-hush meetings and parleys between opposing factions. While initially it was expected that the race for the top post would come down between two factions led by Maharashtra strongman Sharad Pawar and N Srinivasan, equations suddenly changed when reports of a meeting between the two came to light on Wednesday, September 23, supposedly to scuttle BJP member of Parliament Anurag Thakur’s chances.
As in Indian politics, there are no permanent friends or enemies in Indian cricket. Things are poised for a very interesting succession battle in the corridors of Indian cricket. Watch this space.
