Sourav Ganguly is set to become the next Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) President, but his ascension to the top post of the Indian cricket board was anything but smooth. Reports on Sunday evening suggested that N Srinivasan’s man Brijesh Patel would be the new boss of the BCCI but after some late evening drama, Sourav Ganguly emerged as consensus candidate. On Monday, the former India captain filed his nomination and since all candidates have emerged unopposed, no election will be held. So, what really happened behind closed doors on Sunday evening that turned the tide in Sourav Ganguly’s favour?
NDTV accessed some inside details and it has emerged that former BCCI President N Srinivasan had organised a dinner at a 5-star hotel for about a 100 BCCI members for them to be on his side, to garner votes for his nominee — Brijesh Patel.
Everything was going fine for Srinivasan and Patel till about 9:30 last night (Sunday night) until a few members said that the same gentleman, because of whom the board went through the turmoil that it has been enduring for the past few years, or his proxy can’t be brought back.
Which is when Anurag Thakur suggested Sourav Ganguly’s name. He got the backing from the North-Eastern as well as the Western states.
However, this was not a spur of the moment decision. Ganguly, two nights back, is said to have met a powerful union minister and discussed the situation and Anurag Thakur was just taking that deal forward when he proposed Ganguly’s name.
For now, Ganguly’s stint will only be for 10 months following which the three-year cooling-off period will begin as per the rules set by the Lodha Committee.
Ganguly has been in administration with the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) for the past five years and according to Lodha Committee recommendations, an administrator can only serve for six years on the trot.
Meanwhile, in other developments, Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s son Jay Shah will be the new secretary while Arun Dhumal will be the new treasurer. Dhumal is the younger brother of MoS Finance and former BCCI president Anurag Thakur.
When the new office bearers assume office, it will end a 33-month term of the Committee of Administrators, which called shots in running the cricket affairs in country post Lodha Committee reforms.
