New Delhi: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ensure that cricketer-cum administrator Sourav Ganguly is allowed to contest the International Cricket Council elections, slated for November.
Ganguly is on his way out as BCCI president – to be replaced by 1983 World Cup winning member and former selector Roger Binny — though Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s son Jay retains his position as BCCI secretary.
“An influential minister in the central government played a key role in deciding the positions in the Board set up,” a BCCI source told news agency PTI. Whether the BCCI will contest for the ICC chairmanship hasn’t been decided as yet.
PTI also reported that Jay Shah would replace Ganguly as India’s representative at the all-powerful ICC Board.
On Monday, Mamata Banerjee said Ganguly was “being deprived” because he is a popular figure. “I request the government of India not to make any decision politically but for cricket and sports. Ganguly is not a political party member,” she added.
At an event in Kolkata Thursday, Ganguly had said he would go on to do “bigger things”. “I was the president of the Cricket Association of Bengal for five years. After all these terms, you have to leave and go. As an administrator, you have to contribute a lot and make things better for the team. As a player, I was around for a long time and understood this. I enjoyed my time as an administrator thoroughly,” he added.
Meanwhile, Ganguly has confirmed that he will contest the upcoming elections at the Cricket Association of Bengal, a post he held between 2015 and 2019 before he moved on to head the BCCI.
“Yes, I will be contesting the CAB polls,” Ganguly told PTI. “I plan to file my nomination on October 22. I have been in CAB for five years and as per Lodha rules, I can continue for another four years. “I will finalise my panel on October 20.”
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