Indian cricket’s most celebrated captain Sourav Ganguly is all set to take over as the new BCCI president. The formal board election is scheduled for October 23. But as per the reports, Ganguly will become the president unopposed.

The story

For now, Ganguly will hold the post for a brief time span. According to the new BCCI rule, he will be going for a cooling-off period from September 2020. An office-bearer who has been holding posts in any state organization or BCCI for five years must go for a mandatory three years of the cooling-off period. Ganguly is the president of Cricket Association of Bengal for the past five years and hence he is bound to take the break.

According to the reports, in a meeting in Mumbai, all organizations under the board gave support to Ganguly as the new president. He filed his final nomination on Monday for the same where he would be chosen unanimously on October 23.

What Ganguly says

Ganguly, while asked about the same said that his first priority is the first-class cricket. He mentioned, “I had requested to the CoA and they have not listened. Ranji Trophy cricket will be the focus. To take care of cricketers’ financial interest.”

He expressed his happiness with the appointment in such a crisis time of the board. Ganguly said that he would take this opportunity to do something to rectify the board’s image. “I am happy with the appointment because this is the time when BCCI’s image has got hampered and it’s a great opportunity for me to do something.”

One of the most successful Indian captains who represented India in more than 400 international matches termed this as a great responsibility and challenge. Ganguly opined, “Whether you are elected unopposed or otherwise, it’s a big responsibility because it is the biggest organization in the world of cricket. India is a powerhouse. It will be a challenge.”

There are speculations of Ganguly going into a deal with BJP. The rumours suggest that Ganguly might become the face of BJP in West Bengal which would be a great move for BJP in Bengal against the ruling party of Mamata Banerjee. But Ganguly denied the same saying, “Nothing of that sort. Nobody has told me.”