Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar has said that he wishes to see Sourav Ganguly continue as the BCCI president until the 2023 World Cup. Ganguly was appointed the president of the BCCI in October last year for a period of nine months but the cooling off period clause in the new BCCI constitution makes in mandatory for board officials to step down after six years in office.
Ganguly’s tenure ends on July 26. That’s when he completes six years in total as a BCCI office-bearer and an office-bearer of Cricket Association of Bengal. Ideally, he has to take a cooling-off break of three years. However, Aditya Verma – the original petitioner in the 2013 IPL spot-fixing scandal, which led to the apex court forming the Lodha Panel, which recommended sweeping constitutional reforms – on Tuesday said his lawyers won’t oppose a cooling-off period waiver for BCCI president Ganguly and secretary Jay Shah when the matter is heard in the Supreme Court, given the impact he’s made since being elected to run the board.
“The Supreme Court of India’s decision to postpone the hearing of several applications by the BCCI and some of its affiliates has also left Indian cricket in limbo. Sure, there are many more important cases than cricket before the highest court in the land but Indian cricket lovers are anxiously awaiting the decision,” Gavaskar wrote on his column for Mid-Day on Sunday.
“Personally, I would love to see Sourav and his team carry on till the end of the 2023 World Cup in India but let’s see what the court decides. Just like Sourav lifted the Indian team after the early murky times and restored the faith of the Indian cricket lovers, so also he and his team look capable of doing that with the BCCI administration.”
Under Ganguly’s helm, India played their first day-night Test last year against Bangladesh at Eden Gardens and has implemented productive changes in the Indian cricket system, including handing Rahul Dravid a larger role as head of cricket at the National Cricket Academy. Besides wanting Ganguly to continue, Gavaskar wishes the BCCI would implement a no-limit policy in terms of aiding former players with medical expenses.
