Ganguly Has Saved The Day Before, He Can Lead BCCI Out of Crisis

The one name that seems to be at the top of the list for the post of BCCI President is that of Sourav Ganguly.

The dust is yet to settle on the mess that BCCI finds itself in, but the time to look ahead has already begun. Anurag Thakur may have made the battle about himself being in a position of power, but Indian cricket will not cease to exist because of his removal.

While some in the Board are busy finding one last way to stay relevant via curative/review petitions, some others have already started planning ahead, about who the next head honchos will be.

One name that seems to be top of the list is that of former India captain Sourav Ganguly. Currently he has the best track record among all the possible/available candidates. With almost everyone turning out to be ineligible on a number of counts, Ganguly’s chances have become that much stronger.

He has all the necessary pedigree/credentials to become a beacon of hope in this moment of crisis for the BCCI. Most importantly, it will be a role similar to the one he performed when he became the Indian captain at the height of the match-fixing scandal.

Ganguly’s Inputs as India Captain

In many ways, all modern Indian sides owe it to Ganguly and his side for changing the grammar of our cricket.  The arrival of a foreign culture, full-time qualified physio and trainer, and an analyst to provide backroom intelligence were all introduced in the Ganguly era.

Indian cricket had a feel-good phase under Ganguly as he had an able deputy in Rahul Dravid and a galaxy of greats led by Sachin Tendulkar to back his leadership. They did the backroom, on-field work as Ganguly led from the front.

Now, 17 years on, a similar situation has cropped up with Ganguly turning out to be the lone man standing to take up the mantle of BCCI president. He has the requisite administrative acumen having served as chair of BCCI’s technical committee in the recent past.

More importantly, it is his time as the head of the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) which is going to prove to be crucial in his elevation.  A couple of years ago, Ganguly took a conscious decision to stay away from commentary duties and dived straight into administration.

He was taken in by his late mentor Jagmohan Dalmiya as one of the joint-secretaries.  Now, Ganguly’s stature virtually enables him to be the prime candidate when the transition phase is completed.

The Current Vice-Presidents

The five current vice-presidents are either ineligible or are completely discredited on more than one count.

The vice-presidents include Gautam Roy, former president of the Assam Cricket Association. Deloitte's internal reports about Assam had been unfavourable when Roy was at the helm in the state.

Since ML Nehru, the general secretary of J&K Cricket Association (JKCA), is over the age of 70, he will not be eligible for the post of BCCI President.

The senior most vice-president CK Khanna was termed as a “pernicious influence” in a report submitted by the observer for DDCA Retd Justice Mukul Mudgal, to the Delhi High Court.

And, G Ganga Raju and TC Mathew have to carry out their cooling off periods according to the Lodha reforms.

G Ganga Raju has been the Andhra Cricket Association president for a decade and TC Mathew was on his 20th year as a KCA office-bearer, when he resigned as Kerala Cricket Association president post the Supreme Court’s order on Monday.

According to the recommendations, no office-bearer can hold office for more than three terms.

The other major candidates like N Srinivasan, Rajeev Shukla and Anirudh Chaudhry are currently out of favour because of the eligibility clause. Ganguly could therefore emerge as the rallying point for all the new members of the future Apex Council of the BCCI.

Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA)’s secretary and former Test batsman Brijesh Patel is another possible candidate. Patel has served his time at KSCA as per the Lodha rules, so he could well emerge as a possible choice. But Ganguly’s stature could outweigh Patel’s bid for presidency.

There are some powerful regional politicians like Jyotiraditya Scindia who will have to leave his position at MPCA, and therefore could also well be in the fray.

Scindia is the most high profile candidate apart from Ganguly. Scindia’s father Madhavrao was the BCCI president in the early 1990s and he himself has led the MPCA for a few years.

He was one of the first to raise the red flag against Srinivasan at the height of the IPL spot-fixing scandal in 2013. Scindia has chaired a number of important BCCI committees and was part of the disciplinary committee which acted against Lalit Modi.

But the Lodha panel has shown an affinity to have noted former players in positions of power with qualified paid professionals supporting them. So by this formula, the only visible and eligible candidate is Ganguly.

But for Ganguly to succeed and eventually be able to set a system like in his playing days, he needs an effective team. So more than Ganguly, it is the team of professionals at the BCCI headquarters that could well decide the success or failure of his impending presidency.

For now though Ganguly has to first officially ratify and adopt the Lodha recommendations at the CAB level, before he sets his sights on the bigger pie.