New Delhi / Sourav Ganguly officially takes charge as 39th BCCI president

Legendary India skipper Sourav Ganguly began his new innings as he took charge of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) as its 39th president on Wednesday. Ganguly was the only candidate to file his nomination for the top post after being unanimously chosen as the presidential candidate at a meeting earlier this month.

In the new administration, Home Minister Amit Shah’s son Jay Shah took over as the secretary of the board while former president Anurag Thakur’s brother Arun Singh Dhumal became the new treasurer. Kerala’s veteran administrator Jayesh George was named the joint secretary while Mahim Verma of Uttarakhand became the new vice-president.

The incoming of Ganguly’s team marks an end to the reign of Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) - led by Vinod Rai - who oversaw the functioning of BCCI for almost three years.

“It was a good experience and a long journey, didn’t think that the journey would last so long, but I am happy with the end result that elections and office-bearers are coming back and BCCI will be run by them now,” Diana Edulji told reporters at BCCI headquarters after the final COA meeting on Tuesday.

Ganguly, one of India’s most decorated captains ever, had already laid down his plans during his 10th month tenure at helm. The former India captain will have to vacate office next July due to compulsory cooling off period in the new constitution, which forces an official to step down from administrative role after six years. Ganguly has been working as president of Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) for the last 5 years.

“As a team we have a lot of things to look after actually. We have to get the house in order, administration in order and most importantly cricket on the field. The cricket has been brilliant on the field since we crashed out of the World Cup 2019 and hopefully that will continue. And this is our job to create an environment that the boys can go out and excel themselves,” Ganguly had said after filing his nomination.

The other areas of concern that Ganguly has been vocal about in the past are remuneration for First Class cricketers and revenue from the International Cricket Council.

“We haven’t received any money from ICC in the last few years. Money in the sense what we deserve. India generates 70-80 percent of the revenue. So that’s going to be one of the agendas. Talks and discussions need to happen and we have to find a solution to this as this is not leading anywhere,” Ganguly had said.

After finishing his career as one of the most successful captains in world cricket, Ganguly dabbled into administration at the CAB under the tutelage of former BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya. Also, he has headed key sub-committees of the BCCI, including the technical panel and more recently the Cricket Advisory Committee.