Breach of propriety, conflict of interests have defined Sourav Ganguly’s stint as BCCI chief. He must course-correct or quit
When Sourav Ganguly became the president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in 2019, an understandable breeze of optimism wafted in. It was felt that finally a player was in charge, that too a legendary one, and he would clean up the mess that had dragged Indian cricket into the high-ceiling offices of the Supreme Court. It turns out this was a naive urge as Ganguly has arguably outdone some of the old cynical non-player-administrators. Especially, as he had stepped in post the judicial intervention, and was expected to at least uphold the court’s order and recommendations. The latest overstep, as reported by this newspaper, was how he “bullied” other selectors by going against the BCCI constitution and sat in their meetings. And that’s one of his milder offences.
Ganguly has systematically undermined institutions, been brazen about conflict of interests, allegedly promised players stuff that he has no right to (the wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha claimed Ganguly promised him he will be in team), and generally acted as if he was a Maharaja accountable to none and not a paid office bearer of Indian cricket. Ganguly, by then president of the BCCI, was also director of ATK Mohun Bagan when Sanjiv Goenka’s RPSG Group, which owns that football franchise, successfully bid for the new IPL team based out of Lucknow. He was the brand ambassador of the fantasy gaming app My Circle 11 when they announced a three-year title sponsorship deal with the Lucknow franchise and all this when a rival fantasy gaming app was the official kit sponsor of the Indian team. Couple of years ago, he instagrammed his photo clad in a JSW Cement T-shirt with tagline “at work”; JSW Sports, the sports arm of the business conglomerate JSW Group, is a joint owner of the IPL franchise Delhi Capitals.
When a news agency questioned him about his latest breach of selectorial independence, he said: “I have played 424 international matches for India.” The response suggests he believes that his record as a player allows him the privilege to abuse power, disregard rules, and ignore conflict of interests. When he was named president of the BCCI, he was expected to clear the mess left behind by the IPL spot-fixing saga and cleanse Indian cricket. Instead he has been “at work” for himself. The sad fallout of l’affaire Ganguly is that the trust in players to offer administration with a difference has quickly evaporated, revealing a broken system.