Last Updated on 4 years ago by Charbel Coorey
Cricket News: Will Sourav Ganguly be heading to the ICC? | Will BCCI President Sourav Ganguly make a move to the ICC?
A pending plea in the Supreme Court (SC) along with the forthcoming chairperson elections of the International Cricket Council (ICC) have cast doubts over Sourav Ganguly’s tenure as the president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
An SC bench headed by Chief Justice NV Ramana is set to hear a petition seeking an extended term of office for Ganguly and BCCI secretary Jay Shah.
The BCCI has asked the SC to revise a rule in its new constitution that requires administrators to undergo a three-year cooling-off period after serving six consecutive years in the BCCI or any other state cricket association.
The rule in place is in sync with a 2018 judgment by the SC that was made on the basis of Justice R.M. Lodha’s recommendations to reform cricket administration in India.
Ganguly first became the secretary of the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) in 2014. He went on to head CAB later on and assumed the post of the president of the BCCI in October 2019. Shah started off as the joint secretary of the Gujarat Cricket Association (GCA) in 2014 before taking over as the BCCI secretary in 2019.
Ganguly to the ICC? BCCI President aiming to bypass cooling off period
The duo is now looking to complete their inaugural three-year term that will conclude in November 2022 by bypassing this mandatory ‘cooling-off’ period. Along with them, joint-secretary Jayesh George, vice-president Rajiv Shukla and treasurer Arun Singh Dhumal have also completed six consecutive years in cricket administration.
The BCCI has instead pleaded to the SC to permit an office-bearer to serve six straight years at either the BCCI or the state association. The SC verdict on the aforementioned plea could have a vital impact on Ganguly and the other office-bearers’ continuity in their respective roles. The BCCI is anyways likely to go into polls in November this year.
Meanwhile, the International Cricket Council (ICC) tweaked its rules for the election of a chairperson in its Annual General Meeting (AGM) held in Birmingham this Tuesday.
Now onwards, the contestant getting 51 per cent or above votes will get elected to the post of the chairperson that will fall vacant in December this year. Ganguly is being perceived as a formidable contender to replace the incumbent Greg Barclay, Sportstar reports. However, the publication also clarified that BCCI sources have hinted that it’s too soon to come to any conclusion with regards to this matter.
Now, with the SC hearing and ICC polls heading closer, how long will the former India captain continue as the president of the BCCI? Will he be stepping aside for the cooling-off period or taking a step up to the ICC? Stay tuned at CricBlog for further updates in this story.
