Former India skipper Sourav Ganguly’s three-year tenure as BCCI president is set to be over come Tuesday, the day of the board’s elections. 1983 World Cup winner Roger Binny is about to take over his post in the apex council.
Binny filed his nomination on October 11, with Indian Express reporting that the former India pacer looks set to be new BCCI president “unopposed” as do the rest of the apex council members bar Ganguly after a month of consensus meetings on various posts.
Jay Shah, the board secretary, is set to retain his post and be the face of the BCCI regime in the new cycle post-Ganguly, while Rajiv Shukla looks good to continue as the vice president. There, however, appear to be changes looming in the positions of the treasurer and the joint secretary of the BCCI.
“Roger Binny has filed the nomination for the president’s post, myself for the vice-president’s post, Jay Shah for secretary, Ashish Shelar for treasurer and Devajit Saikia has filed the nomination for the joint secretary’s post,”
Shukla was quoted as saying by the Indian Express.
The post of treasurer could go to Shelar, considered a BJP strongman from Mumbai, after the end of the tenure for Arun Dhumal, who is in line to bag the IPL chairman’s post.
Since the final date of filing the nominations against these gents is Wednesday (October 13), it is understood the board’s elections are just a mere “formality” for them to bag their desired posts.
“Arun Dhumal will head the IPL governing council. As of now, these are the nominations and all are unopposed,”
added Shukla, the only congress representative in the apex council.
It is understood that Ganguly’s fate for departure from the BCCI decision-makers list was all but sealed on Tuesday (October 11) after a critical round of meetings at the board’s Mumbai office.
Sources privy to the development told Indian Express that the rest of the members offered the former India captain IPL chairman’s post, which he denied. Ganguly is learnt to have told the rest of the apex council, featuring secretary Shah and vice-president Shukla, that he is more keen on retaining the BCCI president’s post or be the board’s choice for ICC chief’s role.
In the end, however, both choices were denied to the controversial figure of Indian cricket, with Dhumal becoming the prime candidate for the IPL chairman’s role. Ganguly’s departure from the BCCI scene is believed to have been set in stone after a recent meeting in Delhi, where he was reportedly criticised for his performance as the BCCI chief.
Ganguly entered the BCCI elections as a representative of the Cricket Association of Bengal after finding a reprieve from the Supreme Court of India, the apex law body of the country, agreeing to make amendments to the board’s constitution and removing the cooling-off period for administrators.
As per the original constitution adopted by the BCCI following the formal establishment of Lodha committee recommendations, no office bearer could continue for a consecutive three-year term within the BCCI and its state associations.
Since Ganguly had already had a three-year term with CAB as its president, he could not be allowed to retain his BCCI post until the SC amended the board’s constitution. Ganguly’s tenure was due to continue for another three-year term from 2019-2022 till the recent turn of events within the board.
He is now set to leave his post for Binny, the former India fast-bowler and an ex-member of the senior men’s selection panel during Sandeep Patil’s tenure as chief selector back in 2012-15.
