Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Sourav Ganguly said he will not be signifying baseless allegations amid rumours of the former captain including himself in selection meetings and influencing the selection process. An image of Ganguly sitting in a meeting with former selection committee chairman MSK Prasad, then captain Virat Kohli, then vice-captain Rohit Sharma and other office-bearers went viral as speculation was rife that Ganguly had attended selection meetings in the past.
The BCCI president doesn’t have a role to play in selection meetings and Ganguly said he understands his role as the chief of the Indian cricket board and rubbished the allegations against him.
“I don’t think I need to answer anybody anything (about this) and dignify any of these baseless accusations. I am the president of BCCI and I do the job of what the president of BCCI should be doing,” Ganguly told the Press Trust of India.
“Also just to let you know, I see a picture doing the rounds (of social media) showing me sitting in a selection committee meeting.
“I want to make it clear, that picture (where Ganguly can be seen sitting with secretary Jay Shah, skipper Virat Kohli and joint secretary Jayesh George) wasn’t from a selection committee meeting.
“Jayesh George isn’t a part of selection committee meetings. (I have played) 424 international matches for India. Not a bad idea at times to remind people about it, isn’t it?” he added.
The BCCI, in a tweet in 2019, had mentioned a selection committee meeting for India’s home series against Bangladesh and shared the photo in which the board president was also posing for the camera.
All smiles at the Senior Selection Committee meeting earlier this afternoon as the teams for the forthcoming T20I & Test series against Bangladesh were announced #TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/BxA1S6Hc0Z
— BCCI (@BCCI) October 24, 2019
Meanwhile, Ganguly said he shares a very cordial relationship with BCCI secretary Jay Shah, whom he called a trusted colleague. Ganguly took over the top job at the BCCi in October 2019 during which Shah came on board as the secretary.
Over the last 2 years, Shah and Ganguly have been the face of the board as they have been in-charge during the tumultuous phase of Covid-19 pandemic.
“I share a fantastic relationship with Jay. He is a very dear friend and a trusted colleague. Me, Jay, Arun (Dhumal) and Jayesh (George), we have all been working together to get the board going in these difficult times especially with COVID-19 in these two years. To make sure that cricket happens. I would say it has been a fantastic two years. We have all done it as a team,” Ganguly said.
WHO WILL BE INDIA’S NEXT TEST CAPTAIN?
All eyes are on the BCCI as India is yet to announce their next Test captain after Virat Kohli quit from the role in January. While the selectors picked Rohit as the white-ball captain after Kohli’s tenure, the Test captain is yet to be announced with India set to play a Test series at home against Sri Lanka in March.
Ganguly said an announcement about India’s Test captain will be made in the coming days and the Chetan Sharma-led selection committee will take a call regarding that.
“Obviously, there are certain parameters of leadership and whoever fits the bill will be the next Indian Test captain. I believe selectors will have a name in mind and they will discuss it with office-bearers – President and Secretary – and it will be announced in due course of time,” Ganguly added.
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