Dubai: Former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly is set to take a big leap in his ambitions of becoming an administrator, though it came with a generous stroke of political interference on Thursday.
In a sudden turn of events, Mamata Banerjee, Chief Minister of West Bengal, named Ganguly to succeed the deceased Jagmohan Dalmiya as the president of state body the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB).
“I am thankful to all the members of the Cricket Association of Bengal that have trusted me with this opportunity. I have been working with the association for the past 11 to 12 months and I will continue to do my job. I take this as a challenge to lead the CAB,” Ganguly, who was the joint secretary, said soon after the announcement.
Sunday’s death of Dalmiya, who was also the president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), had sparked off a succession drama both at the Indian board and CAB. The search for a president for the state body seemed more complicated, as the deceased official was a larger-than-life figure in the association, leaving a huge administrative void.
The constitution of CAB, as a senior official pointed out to Gulf News on Tuesday, gave room for “60 days for the working committee to meet and choose” the president. Sensing the association was no in position to throw up a consensus candidate, the ruling state government entered the fray to work out a compromise formula — naming Ganguly as the president and also co-opting Dalmiya’s son Abhishek as the joint secretary.
A rookie in a formal administrative role, Abhishek had been nevertheless assisting an ailing Dalmiya in dealing with the administrative matters of the BCCI in his last tenure.
“I am happy that Jagmohan Dalmiya’s son, Abhishek, has also been involved in the association. I have called a governing council meeting of the CAB to take stock of the current situation,” added Ganguly.
