Aditya Verma, who was the original petitioner in the 2013 IPL spot-fixing case, recently stated that he will file an appeal to the Supreme Court to exempt current BCCI president Sourav Ganguly’s compulsory three-year cooling-off period, which will begin in July. It is pertinent to note here that as per the new BCCI constitution based on justice RM Lodha committee’s reforms, anyone who has been an office-bearer in a state as well as BCCI for a consecutive period of six years, will have to go in for a mandatory cooling-off period of three years.
In Ganguly’s case, he was earlier the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) joint secretary and later president as well. When he took over who took as BCCI President in October last year, Ganguly could hold the post only for nine months as per Lodha’s recommendations. However, there should be an exception to every rule and, in this case, as well, Ganguly deserves to complete his full term for the betterment of BCCI and Indian cricket.
Ganguly needs time to try and set things right
Just like the case was when he took over as India captain under the match-fixing cloud in 2000, Ganguly’s entry as BCCI President also followed a turbulent phase in Indian cricket’s administrative body. It the wake of the IPL fixing fiasco and other corruption-related issues, the BCCI had to be managed by the Committee of Administrators (CoA) for nearly three years. This was another highly disruptive period for the Indian cricket board.
The Supreme Court of India had appointed four distinguished personalities – former CAG Vinod Rai, historian Ramachandra Guha, former India women’s captain Diana Edulji and Vikram Limaye, managing director and CEO of IDFC (Infrastructure Development Finance Corporation) – on January 30, 2017, to oversee the implementation of the Lodha reforms. However, within six months, Guha and Limaye quit their posts. While Limaye cited personal reasons, Guha claimed that there were a number of crucial decisions made by the committee where all the CoA members were not kept in the loop.
That’s not all. The differences of opinions between chief Vinod Rai and Edulji also came to the fore on a number of occasions, be it the appointment of women’s team coach, the KL Rahul-Hardik Pandya fiasco as well as the handling of BCCI CEO Rahul Johri’s sexual harassment case. Whether or not Ganguly can turn things around is a different matter altogether. He at least needs a fair chance to give it a shot.
Further, under the current scenario, with the country under total lockdown over the Coronavirus pandemic, Ganguly will be further short on time to make any significant difference as BCCI chief, something Verma said he will mention in his petition to the apex court. This is one more genuine reason why the extension of Dada’s term is necessitated.
Forward-thinking president
If Ganguly has to quit his post at the end of July, he wouldn’t have been able to make much of an impact. But, there will be no two ways about the fact that he is a progressive leader, just as he proved during his reign as India captain. Take the example of the Day-Night Test scenario. Until as late as 2018, India were apprehensive of playing a pink-ball Test. But, just a month after Ganguly took over as BCCI chief, India successfully hosted their first-ever Day-Night Test at Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Ganguly’s clear-thinking mind convinced a once jittery Virat Kohli that this is the way forward. India will now play a pink-ball Test during their next tour of Australia, and against England at home as well.
Partnership with Dravid and Azharuddin
It is rare for three big names of Indian cricket to simultaneously hold influential positions. At present, we have Ganguly as BCCI President, his long-time India teammate Rahul Dravid as National Cricket Academy (NCA) head and Mohammad Azharuddin, under whom both Dravid and Ganguly made their Test debuts, as Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) President. Add to it, another former skipper Anil Kumble is the chairman of the ICC’s Cricket Committee. As a team, these legends could take Indian cricket forward with their proven expertise. At the end of the day, it all comes down to one factor — time.