Former captain of the Indian cricket team Saurav Ganguly is set to lose the presidentship of the Board of Control for Cricket in India for reasons that have nothing to do with cricket. The board is set to replace Ganguly with a former member of the 1983 World Cup winning Indian team, Roger Binny, at its annual general meeting at Mumbai on October 18.
Sources said Saurav’s refusal to enter politics by joining the BJP is the main reason for his removal from the post. He had earlier refused to become the party’s face in the West Bengal state assembly elections in 2021.
Saurav’s appointment as BCCI chief in 2019 was seen as a political decision by the BJP. There was speculation that the Prince of Kolkata, as he is popularly known, would be projected as the BJP’s candidate for chief ministership of West Bengal. He, however, refused to play ball.
Even after losing the 2021 assembly election to Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress, Union home minister Amit Shah made a highly-publicised visit to Saurav’s Kolkata residence to have dinner with his family in May this year. Sources said that was Shah’s last attempt to convince Saurav to enter politics. His fate as BCCI chief was sealed after he remained non-commital over supporting the party in the next general elections.
That Saurav remains a potent political weapon in West Bengal was evident by the Trinamool’s quick and strong reaction to the reports of his imminent removal. Trinamool spokesman Kunal Ghosh said that the BJP was “trying to humiliate” the former Indian captain after failing to induct him into the party. TMC Rajya Sabha MP Santanu Sen wondered why Amit Shah’s son Jay Shah got the second term but Saurav did not.
Sources said Saurav was keen on getting another term at the helm of BCCI but did not find many backers among the board members. He was offered the post of Indian Premier League chairmanship, which he refused. He is reported to have told his colleagues that after heading the board he should not be demoted to lead one wing of the organisation.
According to sources Saurav was hopeful of getting another term after the Supreme Court cleared reelection for the top BCCI officials by relaxing its previous order. They said dada is upset that he has been thrown out after using him for the SC victory.