Sourav Ganguly has begun his 10-month stint as president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) by ensuring that India will play their first Test under lights and has started the process of contracts for first-class cricketers. But splitting captains of the men’s team is not on his list of priorities. “I don’t think that is required to be even discussed now,” said Ganguly in an interview when asked if India need different captains for different formats.
Virat Kohli’s win percentage in One-day Internationals and T20 Internationals is less than Rohit Sharma’s—Kohli has won 47.16% of his 110 games as skipper in IPL and Sharma 58.65% of the 104 games he has led in the league—but with less than a year to go for the World T20, there is no doubting who is in charge.
Crucially, for a competition India won once, in 2007, there aren’t any T20Is slotted between the fifth and final game in New Zealand and India’s World T20 opener in Perth against South Africa on October 24.
“There isn’t any time to slot in more games; the calendar does not permit that,” said Ganguly. “But I think we are playing enough T20 games anyway. Over and above these, you will also have the IPL in 2020.”
That India has not won a major tournament since the 2013 Champions Trophy is a point Ganguly made before becoming BCCI president.
Ten months is a long time, according to Ganguly, but when India host another Test—in January 2021 when England are scheduled to tour, according to the World Test Championships itinerary—he will be serving the mandatory three-year cooling-off period after having been an administrator for six years.
But in that time it will be ensured day-night Tests become a regular feature in India, said Ganguly.
“We will try and play one every year in India. That is for sure. When India go on tour, we will talk to the board of the country we are visiting and see if we can feature in one.”
