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The conference room on the first floor of the BCCI headquarters in south Mumbai has witnessed many press conferences by cricket administrators over the years. This Wednesday afternoon didn’t seem any different for the media persons who had started to sprawl on the floor after waiting for one-and-a-half hours.

As it usually happens, the BCCI media managers first clear the way for the administrators, who then stroll in like heavyweight boxers – at the pace they want, and surrounded by people. On this occasion, there was just a burst of buzzing among the people at the door of the room, quick removal of the lens covers by the camerapersons and the abrupt arrival of the new BCCI president. Sourav Ganguly paced inside with a visible focus and sat on his chair before you could blink twice.

The media manager always introduces the person about to speak, even if it is Virat Kohli. This time, he had just started to ask the press if their “cameras were rolling” and if everyone was ready. Ganguly cut him short and said, “Firstly, good afternoon everyone. And I’m ready, so you can start.” Zap came a question and pat went back the answer from Ganguly. He was not here to waste his or anyone’s time.

As my colleague Sharda Ugra observed, Ganguly wore black-rimmed glasses for a change to a press conference, and not his usual contact lenses. Was it for more gravitas as the BCCI overlord, while he answered one question after another about the state of affairs in Indian domestic cricket, the administration, the BCCI-ICC relationship, how Kohli and the teams had to be supported, and everything else that was asked? It was Ganguly’s first official day as the president but he had a grip on everything already. For not a single question did he appear ill-equipped or unprepared.

Neither did he beat around the bush as many BCCI office-bearers have in the past. It was this way or that for Ganguly, there were no creeks of vagueness or ambiguity his answers could fall into.

“Is domestic cricket your priority?” asked one.

“Yes, it’s the first thing the Apex Council will look at,” Ganguly replied with clarity.

“Is split captaincy on your agenda?” asked another.

“This is the work of the selectors,” he said, ending the discussion there.

At one point, a senior journalist asked him if the new Apex Council was going to effectively replace the working committee, and Ganguly cut him short, courteously but firmly. “No, it [the journalist’s interpretation] is not correct, the Apex Council can give any powers to the office-bearers,” he said. “It’s not the right interpretation of the [Supreme Court] order.” When he was asked about the BCCI’s representation at the ICC and about the revenue the Indian board gets, Ganguly explained the situation and even said, “don’t just go on hearsay”.

No airs because of his position, no irritable behaviour, no grumpiness.

Not just his entry and answers, his demeanour and conduct too were unlike any other administrator’s. Even when he visited the BCCI headquarters on Tuesday to meet the outgoing Committee of Administrators and the board CEO Rahul Johri, he was in formal-casual attire and sat next to the driver in the front of his car with a laptop bag on his right shoulder.

On Wednesday he arrived with the same blue bag on the same shoulder. No fancy Italian leather satchel, no assistant carrying his bureaucratic briefcase, and no deputy to open his car door. Nearly swallowed by the cameras, he soon entered the BCCI building in formal shirt and trousers, with a blue blazer hanging loose from his right hand.

Three hours later he appeared in front of the press wearing the same blazer with the BCCI emblem on the breast pocket. “I got this when I was captain of India and decided I will wear it [today] but did not realise that it was so loose,” he said with glee.

Before leaving for the BCCI office on Wednesday morning, Ganguly got a picture of him clicked at one of the top floors in his hotel. In the picture, now doing the rounds on social media, you can see the Arabian Sea on the left, the Wankhede floodlights almost lost in the high rises and the concrete horizon in the background, and the clearer Brabourne Stadium in the front on the right. Ganguly is standing on the left, wearing the same blue blazer, and looking back towards the two stadia with a glass wall separating them. You can barely see his face but you know he is smiling.

Mumbai will be like his second home for the next 10 months and it’s a city he shares a strong relationship with. “I came here as a young boy. I remember scoring my fist hundred for India here, it was against Pakistan in an Under-19 match at the Wankhede Stadium,” he recalled. “That hundred actually triggered my career off, I got picked for Ranji Trophy, my [first home] Test match hundred here, [I’ve had] Test wins here. And then coming back to the IPL last year for Delhi Capitals and winning again [against Mumbai Indians]. This ground (Wankhede) has never let me down so hopefully in my next role in a different capacity, I’ll be able to get this administration and Indian cricket stronger.”

In his 25-minute press conference as the BCCI president, Ganguly did not reveal anything starkly new compared to all he has spoken about in the last 10 days, in both Mumbai and Kolkata. But when he was asked to talk yet again after walking out of the BCCI office later in the evening, he said, “I’ve been giving bytes ever since I’ve taken over,” and drew laughter.

After the alleged cases of corruption, the Supreme Court’s intervention and the BCCI suffering in many ways in the last few years, cricket fans will now hope Ganguly starts his new stint the same way he ended his first day in the office: with purpose and clarity.

BCCI president Sourav Ganguly has assured the Indian team management led by captain Virat Kohli and head coach Ravi Shastri that his board will make “life easy” and not “difficult” for them but pointed out that performance would be the ultimate yardstick. Ganguly also said he was waiting to have a word with MS Dhoni on his future, pointing out “champions don’t finish quickly.”

The 47-year old former India captain was speaking after his formal election as BCCI president, marking the end of the 33-month tenure of the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA). Others elected today were Jay Shah (secretary), Arun Singh Dhumal (treasurer), Jayesh George (joint secretary) and Mahim Verma (vice-president).

Ganguly was all praise for Kohli who he said had taken Indian cricket to a “different level” since he took over as captain in 2015. India are currently the No. 1 Test team and are perched comfortably atop the World Test Championship table. In ODIs, they are behind England and in T20Is they are ranked fourth.

In light of that success, Kohli and Shastri became two of the most powerful people in Indian cricket. Ganguly is scheduled to them on Thursday at the BCCI offices where the teams to play the home series against Bangladesh would be picked.

“I really don’t know what had transpired with the CoA [the previous regime] and Virat and Ravi,” Ganguly said in his first media briefing as BCCI president in Mumbai. “But the new body has taken over, the new office bearers have taken over, it will be a proper discussion and everything would be mutually discussed. But be rest assured that we are here to make their life easier, not make their life difficult. And everything will be on the basis of performance. Performance is the most important thing and that’s what will decide the future of Indian cricket.”

Ganguly made it clear that Kohli was the “most important” person in Indian cricket at the moment. “We will be there to support him. We will there to listen to him because I have been a captain myself and I understand from that position and we will deal with it. It is a mutual respect which will be there, so discussions will be there and we will do what is best for the game.”

On Tuesday, after India’s 3-0 Test series win over South Africa, Kohli felt Test cricket should be hosted by a maximum of five key venues, a system which is followed in England and Australia. Kohli said it helped bring in better crowds and add to the Test-match culture in those countries and it might be something for the BCCI to look into.

The issue had come up in light of poor crowds in two of the three Tests (Pune and Ranchi) and there had already been a precedent – Dhoni had made a similar suggestion in 2010. Ganguly was open a discussion around it, saying “in terms of the Test venues, we have a lot of space, lot of venues. So we will have to sit with him [Kohli] and see what he wants and take it forward.”

With a selection meeting scheduled for Thursday, the question on Dhoni’s future came up once again. The 38-year old hasn’t played for India since the end of the World Cup in July and it doesn’t seem likely that he will be back to play the series against Bangladesh. “It is unlikely Dhoni would be picked for the Bangladesh series which comprises three T20Is and two Tests considering he has not played any cricket after the World Cup.”

When asked if he had reached out to Dhoni, Ganguly said, “I have not spoken to him yet. Hopefully we will meet soon and have a word with one of the greats in Indian cricket.”

Ganguly was not shy about recalling instances from his own career – which began in 1992 and ended in 2008 -when asked about how long Dhoni could continue playing for India.

“It depends on him,” Ganguly said. “I’ve always said that even when I was left out [in 2005] and when the entire world said he’ll never make it I believed in myself and came back [in 2007] and played for four years [domestic cricket included]. You know champions don’t finish very quickly. I don’t know what’s on his mind, what he thinks about his career. So we will deal with that. He is one of the greats of the game. India is very proud to have MS Dhoni. When you sit down and make note of what he has done, you still say “wow”.”

Ganguly also brushed aside the question of whether India needed to look at the split captaincy. “It is the job of the selectors (to decide that),” he said before adding, “India is winning, so the question is not necessary at the moment. India is the best team in the world right now so that question is not necessary right now.”

Article courtesy – espncrininfo.com

Among the five newly elected office bearers who are set to take over their positions in the BCCI, Sourav Ganguly is the only one who needs no introduction. The other four, from different state associations, with varying backgrounds, are familiar with cricket administration but the fans might not be familiar with them. So, here’s an introduction.

Jay Shah, secretary (from Gujarat Cricket Association)

The youngest office bearer in the new BCCI administration by a distance, 31-year-old Jay Shah has been with the Gujarat Cricket Association (GCA) since 2009 and is Indian home minister Amit Shah’s son. Jay, an engineer, was elected as an executive board member in the Central Board of Cricket, Ahmedabad, in May 2009, and he took over as the joint-secretary of the GCA in September 2013.

Arun Singh Dhumal, treasurer (from Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association)

Elected president of the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) last month, Arun Singh Dhumal is also the younger brother of former BCCI president Anurag Thakur, the current Indian minister of state for finance and corporate affairs.

Dhumal, 44, brings with him three years of administrative experience at the HPCA, having served as the vice-president from 2012 to 2015, during Thakur’s stint as president, before he had to step down because of the Supreme Court of India’s intervention following the Lodha Committee’s recommendations on administrative reform. Dhumal then led the three-member ad-hoc committee that was set up to lead the HPCA until the association adopted a new constitution in line with the Lodha reforms.

As the HPCA’s vice-president, Dhumal oversaw the association’s day-to-day cricketing operations and the development of the stadium in Dharamsala, which started hosting international matches in January 2013. Dhumal has also represented HPCA at BCCI meetings in the past.

Jayesh George, joint-secretary (from Kerala Cricket Association)

Jayesh George has the most varied experience among the new BCCI office bearers. At the Kerala Cricket Association (KCA), he has held the posts of joint-secretary, treasurer, secretary and, most recently, president after the state elections last month.

George started as a wicketkeeper-batsman for Swanton Cricket Club in Ernakulam, where former India quick Tinu Yohannan also played, and became part of the KCA as a district representative in 2005. He was then an office bearer from 2013 to 2018 in three different capacities: joint-secretary, secretary and treasurer.

He has also been the manager of India A teams on overseas tours of Australia and New Zealand recently. At 50, he is the oldest of the BCCI’s five office bearers.

Mahim Verma, vice-president (from Cricket Association of Uttarakhand)

Mahim Verma first aspired to be a professional cricketer but an accident in his youth forced him to turn to cricket administration to stay in the sport.

His father, PC Verma, was the secretary of the Cricket Association of Uttarakhand (CAU), and Mahim took over as the joint-secretary in 2009. He held that position for 10 years until last month, when he was elected as the secretary unopposed, only weeks after the association got BCCI affiliation. Verma, 45, now hopes to bring more international cricket and IPL games to Uttarakhand.

“It is like a dream come true, a few weeks ago we were running around to get BCCI affiliation for CAU,” Verma told the Times of India last week. “But now they have rewarded Uttarakhand cricket in a big way by appointing me as the vice-president of BCCI.”

Article courtesy – espncrininfo.com

In an exclusive interview with Outlook, former India women’s cricket team captain Shantha Rangaswamy revealed that her former side’s 1976-77 Test series Vs new Zealand should be given “official status”.

Shantha Rangaswamy was India’s first woman Test captain when the team opened its account against the visiting West Indies in November 1976 at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore.

One of the issues that Shantha Rangaswamy, India’s first woman Test captain, wants to take up with the new Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), is to get the unofficial ‘Tests’ played on New Zealand’s 1976-77 tour of India declared official. For this, she wants new BCCI president Sourav Ganguly to take up the issue with his counterpart in New Zealand and also with the International Cricket Council (ICC).

The 65-year-old rues that her 500-plus runs scored in that five-match ‘Test’ series and her teammate and ace left-arm spinner Diana Edulji’s 20-odd wickets are not part of the official records. “That is a little hurting,” says Shantha. The 5-foot-8.5-inch tall former banker, who is also part of the BCCI Apex Council as a representative of the newly formed Indian Cricketers’ Association (ICA), feels it’s never too late to rectify the records, and that she would take up this issue with Ganguly and others in the BCCI.

Shantha was India’s first woman Test captain when the team opened its account against the visiting West Indies in November 1976 at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore, her home city. She went on to play 16 Tests and 19 ODIs between 1976 and 1991, scoring 750 Test and 664 ODI runs. She also bagged 21 Test and 12 ODI wickets. Later, the Bachelor of Arts degree holder served Indian cricket in different capacities, including as a member of the BCCI’s Cricket Advisory Committee, recently, and as chairperson of the national women’s selection committee a few years ago, having retired as General Manager of Canara Bank in Bangalore.

Recently, Shantha was elected among the three of the ‘Institutional Members’ from the Bangalore Zone, representing Mount Joy Cricket Club, in the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) elections. But when she was later elected unopposed for the post of ‘Female ICA Representative Nominee to BCCI Apex Council, she resigned from her KSCA post. She says she could return to Karnakata cricket administration after her tenure with the ICA gets over.

You played 16 Tests and 19 ODIs between 1976 and 1991. What are your most cherished moments?

Two things stand out. One is the win against the West Indies under my captaincy, in the Patna Test match in 1976. It was India’s first-ever win in Test matches. And then my century in the Dunedin Test against hosts New Zealand, in January 1977. The point is that the team that we played in New Zealand played against us in five Tests in India also. But when we toured New Zealand, the Test in Dunedin was given the official status and when the same New Zealand team visited India in 1976-77 the Tests were declared unofficial. That needs a relook. My 527 runs in five Tests — I got a century, 119, in Pune — have gone down the drain. What would have happened if I had not scored a century in Dunedin? Diana, I think, got 20-odd wickets in that series. So, many players who played those Tests are not being recognised as those matches were called unofficial. That is a little hurting. Maybe our people [BCCI officials] told [New Zealand] to send a team that’s a blend of youth and experience. But the same team played when we went there.

Did you later take up this issue with authorities?

See, my point is that the International Women’s Cricket Council (IWCC) did not agree. Later, it was merged with the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 2005. It’s never too late [to give official status to those Tests vs New Zealand]. At least, now we want to make a case out of it. So many players who played then are deprived of some benefits from the BCCI because those Tests were turned unofficial. We played the same New Zealand team, and that’s what is irking me. Sad that many players missed the Board’s benefits because of one wrong classification. I am sure, it can be rectified and those Tests can be made official. We will make a submission, and the BCCI, which is in such a position, can take it up with New Zealand and the ICC, and reclassify them as official Tests.

Women’s Test match cricket is almost dead. India played their last Test match six years ago.

In 2014 or 2015, when I was the chaired the national selection committee, I wanted India to play a Test – we played against South Africa and England — but New Zealand refuses to play, saying that they don’t play the longest format at all. Now the BCCI also stopped talking about Test cricket. Australia and England still play, we should play with people who are ready to play Test cricket. But some somehow that’s not happening. We need to revive that. At least, when England and Australia visit India, we should have Tests. But that is somehow not happening. It is one of the items I would like to take up for discussion also. Let’s see. Sourav Ganguly is there as BCCI president. When he says that he wants to do something for first-class cricketers, I suppose he includes women players also. So, that’s a good sign. Hopefully, half of our work will be done. What we need to do, he himself is proposing. If it happens, it will be a shot in the arm for all women cricketers who slogged all their lives to help sustain this game. If we had not played well initially, the women’s cricket would have been dead by now. But it’s because we laid a solid foundation, the game has survived.

ICC must take the initiative. So what, as it men’s cricket draws a lot of crowd. You saw the Pune Stadium [during the recent India-South Africa second Test recently]? It was virtually empty. It’s bound to happen because of TV coverage; it’s so good that people can watch matches from across the globe from their drawing rooms. How do the Ashes Tests get the crowds? When India tours abroad the Indian population comes to watch. Likewise, if we persist, interest can be developed.

Now that you are in the BCCI, along with male ICA representative to Apex Council Anshuman Gaekwad and Mohammed Azharuddin (as president of Hyderabad Cricket Association), and Sourav will also, I think, support you on this point.

Sourav was a captain par excellence; an aggressive captain. He is speaking of taking care of domestic players. So, I’m sure a man with such ideas will not oppose this.

You now have a platform in the form of the ICA – the players’ voice – and you have three players in the BCCI Apex Council in Ganguly, Gaekwad and you. Azharuddin is likely to head a cricket committee.

Unless they redefine the conflict of interest, no one can be in two committees.

But Azharuddin is not in any BCCI committee; he’s president of the Hyderabad Cricket Association.

No, he is not. But if he gets into another committee [of the BCCI], say, technical committee, then? That’s why I am saying they have to redefine the conflict of interest. That’s the first job the BCCI will have to do, otherwise, where will they get quality players from? Let’s take the case of the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC). It meets once in six months, or a year, or two years. If Kapil Dev, Laxman, Ganguly and myself have resigned, which player will come? Dravid is training the future cricketers of India and he is besieged by this problem. Many will say ‘why should we put up with this [conflict of interest by accepting BCCI posts]?’ They will just chuck it. That’s the reason I am saying that, hopefully, the BCCI will redefine what the conflict of interest means and get the approval of the Supreme Court, so that we don’t discourage experienced, quality cricketers from entering into such committees. [The Committee of Administrators has in its 11th Status Report submitted with the Supreme Court, appealed to it to make the Conflict of Interest rule flexible.]

Coming back to the lack of crowds in Test cricket, the initiative has to come from the top, isn’t it?

ICC, per se, in my opinion, because you cannot ignore the aesthetic value of Test cricket. And I would want the under-19 and under-23 players to play longer duration matches, especially the under-19, so that they don’t get corrupted with their technique. Kohli can play any format because of his superior technique. But others play across the line etc., because they don’t play [sufficient] longer duration games. Earlier, the BCCI had inter-state and inter-zonal tournaments of two-day games for under-19 to ensure that they learn the game the right way. I would say you have to have it. The Indian Board has been very powerful for the last 10-15 years; they can ask them to play Test matches. But a prod, a push is needed from the ICC.

What are your feelings at breaking the glass ceiling – i.e. the male bastion – and entering the BCCI as a ‘female representative’ of the officially recognised Indian Cricketers Association (ICA)?

I am very happy for women cricketers. I am only their representative. It’s not just me. It may be a small step for me, but it’s a giant leap for Indian women’s cricket. It’s like entering the ‘temple’ of Indian cricket, which is the BCCI.

Are you a little bit nervous at entering this ‘temple’?

Not at all, not at all. I was a general manager in a nationalised bank [Canara Bank]; I have attended Board meetings; I was a director of a couple of companies in my capacity as General Manager of Canara Bank. Plus, I have attended a lot of the [Supreme Court-appointed and GK Pillai-headed] Steering Committee meetings of the BCCI. I have attended the BCCI’s Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) meetings. So, I am definitely not nervous; but I am enthusiastic. The enthusiasm is there like a school kid.

Article courtesy – Outlook Web