Sourav Ganguly – A scrappy innings with some highs

The ambience had the making of a silent coup as a grim looking Sourav Ganguly walked out after the BCCI AGM went according to the script in a plush Mumbai hotel on Tuesday. A far cry – from the hype and hoopla which marked his acsent to the hot seat exactly three years back to the day.    

There was hope in the air as an upbeat Ganguly, clad in his India blazer for effect, attended his first press conference in the new avatar.  There were many who drew parallels between him taking over the BCCI hot seat with that of him being thrust into the captaincy in 2000 when Indian cricket was trying to recover from the aftershocks of match-fixing saga sweeping the game.

This time around, the richest cricket board of the world was trying to restore order after being under the control of the Supreme Court-appointed administrators for 33 months – which actually was a fallout of BCCI’s fall from grace due to allegations of corruption and gambling among the IPL owners and teams. The difference between the two scenarios is that Ganguly had to leave his job unfinished this time.

It’s then time to look at the balance sheet of Ganguly’s regime for as captain, any credit or blame has to lie at his doorstep. Was he really a ‘non-perfomer,’ as reportedly accused by N. Srinivasan, an epitome of some of the ills that has plagued Indian cricket in it’s cash-rich era – from conflict of interest to a close family member being charged with gambling?

Let’s look into Ganguly’s reign as objectively as possible. It started on a rousing note when he was at the forefront of hosting the first-ever Pink Ball Test in India at the Eden Gardens in November, 2019 – something which he achieved after a buy-in from the then high flying Indian captain Virat Kohli. He felt strongly about the need for more day-night Tests to save the purest format of the game and was somewhat instrumental in India changing their stance on the issue.

From what I recall, Ganguly had pledged to improve the lot for domestic cricketers and create a contract system for them soon after occupying his chair – which remains a pipe dream. The other allegation, more by way of media trial, was that he played the chief selector at some of the selection meetings and played a big hand in the removal of Kohli from ODI captaincy. Yes, the conflicting statements of Ganguly and Kohli over the captaincy issue is like your words against mine, but is it possible to believe that the president alone was as powerful to sack an influential a figure like Kohli?

As the Covid-19 pandemic swept the world from March, 2020 onwards, the BCCI got down to some serious firefighting to save their biggest cash cow – the Indian Premier League (IPL). One was at hand in Dubai to witness how the Indian board weilded their clout and also handled the logistical nightmare of moving the tournament to the UAE – and it will perhaps be no exaggeration to say that Ganguly became the face of BCCI at that point to harp on the point that the BCCI would be broke if the IPL was not played.

To be fair to the entire previous regime, they had to spend almost two years of three in crisis-management (read: to host the IPL at any cost and then shoehorn the T20 World Cup with it last year in the UAE). This effectively resulted in a severe financial loss for the first class cricketers as there was no Ranji Trophy for the first time in decades in 2020-21 and surely enough, the BCCI has to share a moral blame collectively for this.

From what I recall, Ganguly had pledged to improve the lot for domestic cricketers and create a contract system for them soon after occupying his chair – which remains a pipe dream. The other allegation, more by way of media trial, was that he played the chief selector at some of the selection meetings and played a big hand in the removal of Kohli from ODI captaincy. Yes, the conflicting statements of Ganguly and Kohli over the captaincy issue is like your words against mine, but is it possible to believe that the president alone was as powerful to sack an influential a figure like Kohli?

The funds-flush BCCI today does not really depend on it’s president to give them direction, strategise to garner funds or fight for rights to bring a World Cup on their soil (remember Jagmohan Dalmiya or I.S.Bindra)? Everything is now at their beck-and-call and to that extent, Ganguly was no less successful or a failure as a president.inn

If anything, ‘Dada’ had done his best to guide one of the youngest top brass in BCCI during times of crisis. His endorsement of a competing brand of online gaming app to that of BCCI has rightfully faced the flak, but then there should be a call for top cricket teams and stars to stop working for them in the first place.

Will the new committee under Roger Binny, once Indian cricket’s ‘Utility Man,’ take it up under their agenda?