Former India captain Sourav Ganguly could become the next president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, according to reports, after the Supreme Court set aside some of the recommendations of the Justice RM Lodha Committee and approved a new draft constitution with some changes.
The Indian board is eyeing the former cricketer as someone who could give the BCCI an image makeover following a string of administrative controversies, according to reports.
Most of the current and past administrators are ineligible for the post because of the cooling-off period, but not Ganguly, who is into his third term as president of the Cricket Association of Bengal, reported The New Indian Express. The former cricketer has also been part of the BCCI’s technical committee, cricket advisory committee, and IPL governing council.
The 46-year-old, who has been an administrator for four years, would be eligible to toss his hat into the ring during the BCCI elections without taking a cooling-off break provided he resigns from his CAB post, the report said.
As per the newly approved BCCI constitution, there won’t be a zonal rotation policy for the post of president. Any representative from any state association can nominate a candidate, but it has to be seconded by someone else.
However, if Ganguly becomes BCCI president, he would have to give up the post after two years because he would be completing a cumulative period of six years. “He is definitely eligible and ticks most of the boxes,” the report quoted a senior BCCI functionary as saying. However, the report added that Ganguly will only enter the fray if there are no opponents.
The Supreme Court had earlier set aside Lodha panel recommendations such as the one-state-one-vote policy. As a result, the Mumbai and Vidarbha cricket associations were reinstated as full members of the board. The court accepted recommendations such as barring politicians or government servants from holding office. It also upheld the age cap of 70 years for administrators.
