5 months after taking over formally as the head of the Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI), former captain Sourav Ganguly has been making some serious decisions for the welfare of cricket. Ganguly has had an eventful 5 months in his scheduled 10-month tenure. Here we take a look at some of the highlights of Ganguly’s BCCI presidency and how it is shaping Indian cricket for the future.
India was apprehensive about playing a pink-ball Test and even refused one at Adelaide against Australia in 2018. But after becoming the BCCI President, Ganguly emphasized the same and convinced India captain Virat Kohli to come on board with the idea. India successfully hosted Bangladesh at Eden Gardens for the historic maiden Pink Ball Test in the country. Later BCCI confirmed that they would play 2 more Pink Ball Tests shortly, vs Australia and vs England back home next year.
The India men’s team has lost 3 World Cup semifinals and after Ganguly became the BCCI president, it was logical he would have to face the questions regarding India’s inability to go on and win ICC trophies. He stressed that he will engage with captain Kohli and head coach Ravi Shastri to discuss the issue of India not winning ICC trophies.
Conflict issues in cricket were faced by Indian legends like VVS Laxman, Sachin Tendulkar, and Kapil Dev before Ganguly himself had to face the same issue, of which he was cleared off subsequently. Whether it was Ganguly’s personal disdain towards the issue or the Ethics officer’s own good judgment that led to its resolution, is hard to figure out but thankfully for the greater good of cricket in the country, stalwarts like Dravid and Ganguly continue to work in positions of influence helping the game grow domestically.
Now with the corona pandemic that has hit the globe, IPL matches have been postponed until further notice. Initially, the matches were rescheduled from 29th Of March to the 14th of April as no foreign players were allowed to enter India, but now all the matches have been postponed until India gets the fatal virus in control.
Ganguly is now ready to offer the Eden Gardens indoor facility and the player’s dormitory to the West Bengal government to be used as quarantine facilities in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak that has infected more than 500 people in the country and has led to more than 10 deaths.
With at least 5 more months left in his tenure, Ganguly can still leave a lasting legacy on not just Indian cricket but also lay a path for future admins to follow. Whether his stint as BCCI president will be remembered as fondly as when he was captain, the next 5 months will tell us.
