Kolkata/IBNS: Former Indian cricket great Sourav Ganguly has surely provided some comic relief to the ongoing controversy stirred by his unceremonious exit as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president, the post which in all probability will be assumed by 1983 World Cup winning team member Roger Binny.
Ganguly, who is known for his humorous one-liners, left the audience burst into laughter by referring to Roger Binny and his cricketer son Stuart Binny.
After a video clip showing Ganguly was doing commentary with his former colleague Rahul Dravid and Harsha Bhogle was played out at a city event, Team Indias iconic captain waited for his moment to drop the sarcastic remark.
In the clip, the trio was seen doing commentary during an India-England Test match where Stuart was bowling to English batter Joe Root.
After the video clip ended, Ganguly remarked, By the way, that Binny is not Roger Binny. Thats Stuart Binny.
Hinting at the current development in the cricket administration, the host joined Ganguly in saying, Very important point to make, especially on this day.
Meanwhile, Ganguly Thursday broke his silence on the ongoing situation and said, You cant play forever. You cant be an administrator forever, but its been fun doing both and seeing both sides of the coin. I will go for bigger things in future.
I was a cricketers administrator. Yes, you had to make decisions because theres so much cricket happening, theres so much money around. Theres womens cricket, theres domestic cricket. Yes, you had to take calls at times as an individual, he added.
Gangulys appointment as the BCCI chief in 2019 had triggered widespread speculations of him joining the BJP ahead of the 2021 assembly elections in West Bengal.
Various reports had back then claimed the BJP was hoping for its much needed Chief Ministerial face in West Bengal-born Ganguly to take on mighty Mamata Banerjee-led TMC in the eastern state.
Reflecting on his days of administering cricket, Ganguly said, I did eight years of administration. I was president of the Cricket Association of Bengal, then became president of the BCCI. All these have tenures and you have to go after finishing it. But I feel the challenge as a cricketer was a lot more.
When you do backroom work, sitting on tables and running the game, you have time to correct things, the former skipper, who made a memorable comeback in Team India after he was axed in 2005, added.
Ganguly, who leads an extremely busy life with his commitments to a meaty number of endorsements, hosting his television show et al, was instrumental in appointing cricket great Rahul Dravid as the head coach of the mens national team after Ravi Shastri resigned.
Comparing his playing days with that of as an administrator, he said Thursday, But if you nicked a delivery from Glenn McGrath on the first morning of a Test, you are (were) out, you didnt have the time to correct it I think thats the major difference.
But when you do administration, you realise that you contribute so much, you could make things better for a cricketer, and me being a player who played for a long period of time, I understood that.
Some reports claimed Ganguly was offered the chairmans position in the hugely popular, cash-rich domestic T20 tournament, Indian Premier League (IPL) but he politely declined the offer.
The cricket great, who shaped Team India as a captain, wanted to continue as the BCCI president, reports said.
BCCI secretary and Union Home Minister Amit Shahs son Jay Shah, the second most important person on the board, is likely to remain in his post and that has drawn nepotism jibes from the opposition political parties against the BJP.
Reports said former BCCI president and IPL franchise Chennai Super Kings (CSK)s owner N Srinivasan was one among those who slammed Ganguly as a board president accusing him of non-performance and alleged that he had represented brands that were the direct rivals of the boards sponsors.
Gangulys decisions on former skipper Virat Kohli (his stepping down as T20 captain and each others contradictory remarks on the issue) also earned him the wrath of many in cricketing circles and among Kohli fans.
(Reporting by Supriyo Hazra)
