New Delhi: Former India captain Sourav Ganguly, who is soon going to become a former BCCI president, has fallen out of favour in the board and is reportedly ending his term on a ‘disappointing’ note.
During the upcoming BCCI AGM and elections October 18, most members of the outgoing administration are set to find places in the new dispensation, barring Ganguly and Jayesh George, the joint secretary. And, Ganguly is definitely not pleased with the developments in the last few days.
The former India allrounder Roger Binny Tuesday filed his nomination for the post of BCCI president and is likely to get elected unopposed since no other candidate has emerged so far as his challenger.
As a normal practice, the outgoing BCCI president proposes the name of the upcoming board chief but a dejected Ganguly didn’t do the same with Binny. The former cricketer was to himself on Tuesday at the board’s office largely, while others were involved in the nomination process, a Cricbuzz report said.
“He clearly looked upset, disappointed and dejected,” said a member who was present at the BCCI office.
The 50-year old was the last one to leave the BCCI office after the nomination process ended, swiftly getting into his car and rolling up the glasses of the window. Outside the BCCI office, there were also murmurs among state representatives about the immediate future of Ganguly.
“Back to Kolkata,” someone suggested. “Back to Delhi,” another chimed in, hinting that he will go back to Delhi Capitals franchise of the IPL, as a director.
The report further said that Ganguly was told that his performance did not live up to the expectations although the official reason is that there is no precedent of a president holding two full terms, during an informal meeting among the senior past and current administrators from prominent state associations before the nomination day.
Another reason for Ganguly not continuing at the coveted post is that the sponsors of Indian cricket boards were not happy with the cricketer, who endorses rival brands. The matter was often discussed among the members.
Overall, the BCCI seems to have moved on from Ganguly which also means he is unlikely to be its candidate for the ICC Chair, the election for which is next month.
It has been also learnt that Ganguly was offered the post of IPL chairman. However, the former left-handed batter politely declined the offer. His logic was that he cannot accept becoming head of a sub-committee in the BCCI after heading the same institution.
