Johannesburg: Cricket South Africa (CSA) wants BCCI president Sourav Ganguly as the next chairman of the International Cricket Council (ICC). CSA Director of Cricket Graeme Smith expressed his support for Sourav Ganguly taking over as the ICC chairmanship. This is after Shashank Manohar’s term ends this month.
Smith’s comments were supported by his CEO Jacques Faul, who said that they won’t mind an Indian as head of ICC.
Current situation in ICC
Due to current coronavirus situation, there may be a case of Manohar’s extension for two months. However, Smith’s backing of Ganguly is the new twist in the story. Till now the person favourite to succeed Manohar is ECB’s former chairman Colin Graves.
Graeme’s Smith’s views
“From our perspective, it would be great to see a cricket man like Sourav Ganguly getting into the president’s role of the ICC. I think that will be good for the game. It will be good for the modern game as well. He (Ganguly) understands the game. The former India skipper is respected as he has played the game at the highest level. Also his leadership will be key to us going forward,” Smith, the former Proteas skipper said.
CSA’s backing of Ganguly comes right after former England captain David Gower’s comments. He had said Ganguly has right political acumen to become ICC president.
Leadership qualities
Smith on his part said that Ganguly’s knowledge of the game would help in being the boss of the global body.
“I think leadership in our sport going forward is going to be the key. Having someone at a level who understands the modern game is a must. Certainly Ganguly qualifies for the job,” Smith said. “Having dealt with Sourav for a long time, I think he has all the qualities to be the ICC president,” Smith added.
Maintaining low profile
Ganguly of late has been keeping a low profile. He is not ready to share his future plans. Technically his term as BCCI president ends in June as per the new constitution. However, sources said that the BCCI is planning to move the Supreme Court for extension of terms to both Ganguly and joint secretary Jay Shah.
To have Ganguly as ICC chairman will be interesting according to Smith.
“So I think that is going to be an interesting time going forward in international cricket. It will be a great appointment,” Smith asserted.
PTI
