How One 'Informal Meeting' Changed Sourav Ganguly's World, Who's Now Set To Be BCCI President
However, the admiration for the cricketer could be truly seen on Sunday when during an “informal meeting” at the Trident in Mumbai lasted for over five hours which was hosted by the former president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India or the BCCI.
During the meeting, the 'Prince of Calcutta' was chosen unanimously as the leading candidate to assume the position of the next BCCI president despite the fact that Brijesh Patel was already the person who was deemed as the next position-bearer.
Things took a surprising turn when Union minister of state, Anurag Thakur pitched in by taking Sourav Ganguly's name for the role of the BCCI president for his exceptional contribution to the advancement of the Indian cricket and the kind of leadership he'd displayed during the days of his captaincy.
"Yes, Brijesh was running for the President's post with N Srinivasan actively lobbying for him. However, there was stiff resistance against him. We are happy Sourav is the new President," a senior official from North East affiliated unit, told PTI.
Ganguly had earlier said no to becoming the vice-president of the Indian cricket board.
The 47-year-old ambidextrous is currently the president of Cricket Association of Bengal, (CAB) with his tenure coming to an end in July 2020 after which he will have to go into the compulsory cooling-off period.
“Sourav can provide a fresh road map to cricket in the country. His experience is important and all should accept him,” Naba Bhattacharjee, convenor of the BCCI's Northeast Cricket Development Committee is believed to have said.
Yes, there were no plans of making Ganguly the BCCI president ahead of the Sunday meeting but the fact that a group of highly knowledgeable personnel decided to change their opinion about who they see as the head of such an integral organisation within a couple of hours shows much deserving of the position the former skipper was.
It was under the leadership of Ganguly that India had one of the best all-time overseas records (winning 11 out of 28 matches) and was the very reason for the inclusion of great talents like Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh and Mohammad Kaif, meaning the former cricketer clearly has an eye for exceptional talent, a quality most required by a cricket board president.
With the right kind of support staff, there is no denying the fact that Ganguly as the President of the BCCI is one of the best bets the organisation has made in the past couple of decades.