In the year 2000, when Sachin Tendulkar made a sudden decision to quit captaincy, an unsuspecting 28-year-old vice-captain was thrust into the lead. The deputy would not only lead the Indian team through one of its most successful spells in the game, but also shepherd the side out of what was one of the most tumultuous periods of Indian cricket.
Sourav Ganguly’s ascendancy as captain in the aftermath of the 2000 match-fixing scandal is an oft-recalled anecdote that chimes through every profile of him. Circa 2017, an unsuspecting Ganguly, now 44, once again finds himself being looked at as an ideal leader, capable of steering Indian cricket out of choppy waters.
After the Supreme Court removed Board of Control for Cricket in India President Anurag Thakur and Secretary Ajay Shirke from their respective posts for not complying with the Justice Lodha panel’s recommendations, it is clear that a new crop of administrators will run the country’s most profitable sports body. But who will take over as president is still a question left unanswered.
There is a buzz that Ganguly is a front-runner to be the new board chief – in an interim capacity or permanently when elections are held six months down the line. Ganguly, who took over as president of the Cricket Association of Bengal in July 2014, is being seen as an ideal candidate. Considering his glorious cricketing past and know-how of cricket administration, there might not be a better suited individual considering all the altered variables at play.
Ticking all the boxes
Ganguly fulfills all the criteria to stand for the post. He has attended BCCI Annual General Meetings twice as per the requirement and stands to gain greatly from the altered one-state-one-vote policy set to be implemented following the Supreme Court verdict.
As president of the CAB, Ganguly controls one of the more influential associations in the country. The state unit has traditionally enjoyed support from every association in the eastern zone. With all states of the North-East soon to get a vote, chances are that they will lend their support to the CAB president if such a time arises. It is, however, left to be seen if the 44-year-old will even toss his hat in for the BCCI top post. He has so far preferred to distance himself from the speculation, stating that “it’s too early”.
Over the course of the BCCI’s entanglement with the Supreme Court and members of the Justice Lodha panel, there has been a constant clamouring for more cricketers to take the plunge into administration. In 2014, the court, hearing a case regarding corruption in the Indian Premier League, had named former India skipper Sunil Gavaskar as interim president of the BCCI.
It was an unprecedented move. It is the one theme that has continued to remain constant even when the court began hearing the case on BCCI reforms and the IPL corruption case before that. The apex court has been insistent on pushing out politicians from sports administration and the inclusion of sportspersons.
The Lodha panel named various measures to facilitate the participation of former players in the day-to-day running of the game. Provisions have been made to form a player body and the inclusion of its member in the apex council that will govern the running of the association.
Among these variables, Ganguly seems to have emerged as a candidate who not only ticks every box prescribed by the Lodha panel, but is also someone who has experience at being an administrator. He will not be all at sea if tasked to head the BCCI in an interim or permanent capacity.
Ganguly has already drawn support from the likes of Gavaskar to take over at least as an interim president. “BCCI has got very good bench strength to take up the bigger rolls and one name that comes to my mind is Sourav Ganguly,” Gavaskar told NDTV. “Remember, in 1999-2000, when Indian cricket was gripped by the match fixing saga, Ganguly was given the Indian team captaincy and he turned it around,” he added.
The question of eligibility
There is, however, still some confusion over whether Ganguly can apply for the post of BCCI president. He has already spent 30 months in the CAB in the capacity of secretary and then president. Some argue that he has only six months left in the state body, and will head into the cooling-off stage by the time fresh elections are held six months down the line. There is no clarity whether his stint as secretary and president will be seen as one term or two.
“Technically, one individual can be an office-bearer at the state association for nine years and separately an office bearer at the BCCI for another nine years, subject of course to the cooling off period after each term,“ according to the Justice Lodha report.
If he is in fact eligible to stand as president, it will be interesting to see what transpires when the next hearing in the case is held on January 19. Will an interim president be named? Or will the court-appointed observers take over till the time fresh elections are held? One thing is certain, if a former cricketer is in line to be handed the responsibility, there might not be a better suited candidate than Sourav Ganguly.
