The appointment of Sourav Ganguly as the BCCI President was met with a lot of enthusiasm from the Indian cricketing community and a number of former players felt it was the right decision to get a celebrated cricketer to handle the administrative part of the sport. Ganguly made a strong start to his stint and his organisation of the first-ever pink-ball Test India earned him more admiration from experts and fans alike.
Indian cricket team head coach Ravi Shastri echoed similar sentiments when it came to Ganguly and he said in a recent interview that it is a good thing that a cricket is at the helm of matter in BCCI.
“I think it is fantastic. I was one of the first to congratulate him when he became the President because I was delighted that more important than anything BCCI was back in place to put Indian cricket where it belongs both on and off the field. And I was even more delighted that a cricketer should be at the helm at this important phase of Indian cricket. And Sourav having been a fabulous player and captain and been around as an administrator, him becoming the President adds a lot of value,” Shastri said in an interview to IANS.
Shastri also feels that while Ganguly and the authorities did a good job, the pink ball will need more studying.
“Hats off to Sourav and CAB for putting up this show because they didn’t leave any stone unturned. The crowd responded magnificently and it really was a fabulous occasion. But when you talk of the cricket, it has its positives and negatives. How the pink ball can retain its shine, its texture will be the test in the future. The match has now given you the pluses and minuses.
“I feel the ball will take some time. It will take some time for the manufactures to get the right kind of ball so that people can see that ball in the night and how it gets affected once there is dew. In the twilight session the ball moved a lot and in the last session it just came onto the bat and it started losing its colour. How that can be changed and how the pink ball can maintain everything like the red ball will be the challenge,” he signed off.
