Is Sourav Ganguly going to be the next ICC Chief?
There is a buzz in the cricket world about the possibility of Sourav Ganguly becoming the next ICC chief. We’ve heard it too and we believe he’s best positioned to lead the International Cricket Council (ICC).
Sourav Ganguly AKA ‘Dada’ had has a career playing cricket for 15 long years and his undying love for cricket has made him continue his path in making history and changing history in Cricket.
On October 23, 2019, Mr. Sourav Ganguly, a Padma Shri awardee, was unanimously elected as the President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Nobody could stand against ‘Dada’ as he was the only candidate who filed his nomination for the President’s post. Before being elected as the President of BCCI, he was the President of the Cricket Association of Bengal, the governing body for cricket in West Bengal, India.
Dada’s term as BCCI president ends in June as per the new constitution where he would have completed six consecutive years as an office-bearer in state and national body. The Present ICC Chairman is Shashank Manohar whose term will end in June 2020, which matches the time when Ganguly’s presidency ends at BCCI. There are strong undercurrents in favour of Ganguly for the position of ICC Chief, which can be felt from the support he’s been receiving from the international cricketing community.
Cricket South Africa(CSA) director of Cricket Graeme Smith expressed his support for BCCI president Sourav Ganguly taking over the ICC chairmanship after Shashank Manohar’s term ends this month. Graeme Smith said to the reporters and shared tweets
“From our perspective, it would be great to see a cricket man like Sourav Ganguly maybe getting into the President’s role of the ICC,”
Graeme Smith
“I think that will be good for the game; I think it will be good for the modern game as well. He understands it; he has played it at the highest level; he is respected; and his leadership will be key to us going forward.
Graeme Smith
Having dealt with Sourav for a long time, I think that the President of the ICC now becomes a very key position going forward in terms of how the game can progress at the right level.“
There has been open support for Ganguly from Cricket South Africa (CSA). The Chief Executive Officer of CSA, Dr. Jacques Faul also backed Graeme Smith by saying
“Our engagements with Sourav has been positive and his willingness to help us. if we would support an Indian candidate (as the ICC chief) and at this stage, we would. From the CSA point of view, we don’t see problems in supporting an Indian candidate.”
Dr. Jacques Faul
ICC leadership position is going to be a crown of thorn for the person who sits on the chair next. The coronavirus has not only impacted the planned matches but it has also raised questions about how cricket will be played in near future as well as in the long term, given that we still don’t have any cure or vaccine for the virus.
The Covid-19 situation will change a lot of things for cricket as we know it and it is bound to leave a huge impact on ICC and its revenues. This makes the appointment of the next Chairperson a critical move for the ICC and that is precisely why everyone is looking at a person who has handled difficult situations in the past and most importantly someone who has played cricket. These circumstances make Sourav the obvious choice.
David Gower, the former England captain also saw exactly the same and supported Sourav Ganguly as the chief of ICC and said
“He is a very, very good man and has those political skills,”
“Sourav has the toughest task imaginable in charge of BCCI, but so far I would say the signs are very good. He has listened, given his own opinion and has pulled strings gently. He is a very, very good man and has those political skills. And if you do a good job as BCCI chief in the future, who knows?”
David Gower
Shashank Manohar has made it clear that he would not stand for another term after his tenure ends with the ICC annual conference in July 2020. Up until Covid-19 pandemic, there was a general perception that England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chairman Colin Graves was the frontrunner to take charge as the new chairman of the ICC. To the extent that when Ganguly had travelled to London to meet the ECB hierarchy, last December, it was being treated as an indication that the BCCI would back Graves’ nomination for the ICC Chair.
However, with the changed circumstances post Covid-19 pandemic, the BCCI seemed to be testing interests from several Full Members of ICC on the possibility of supporting Ganguly’s nomination to the ICC chief position. As of now, the BCCI hasn’t made any public comments on whether Ganguly would be contesting the ICC chairman’s position but if the support from international cricket personalities is anything to go by, we would take that as an indirect confirmation of Ganguly’s candidature.
Seeing the love and support from cricketers around the world we really are overwhelmed. we don’t know how things would end but we are surely rooting for you, Dada.
Bonus: Records & Achievements of Sourav Ganguly
- The only cricketer to win four consecutive man of the match awards in One Day Internationals.
- The eighth highest run-scorer in ODI history and second among the Indians, with 11,363 runs.
- He holds the record for registering the highest individual score by any batsman in an ICC Champions Trophy final (117)
- He was also the first player to score 3 centuries in the history of ICC Champions Trophy
- He was the fastest batsman to reach 6000 – 9,000 ODI runs
- One of the only five cricketers to have achieved the unique treble of 10,000 runs, 100 wickets & 100 catches in ODI cricket.
- His Test batting average never went below 40.
- Has the highest individual score by an Indian batsman (183) in the Cricket World Cup.
- One of the 14 cricketers in the world to have played 100 or more Tests and 300 or more ODIs.
- India’s most successful Test captain overseas, winning 11 out of 28 matches that he led.
- Sourav Ganguly is the only batsman to score a century on debut and to be dismissed first ball in his final Test innings.
- Sourav Ganguly holds the record of the highest individual score by Left-Handed batsman in both Test and ODI for India.
- Highest individual score by an Indian batsman in the World Cup.
- Most centuries by an Indian batsman in a single world cup. ( 3 centuries in 2003 )
Source: souravganguly.co.in