The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is likely to have Roger Binny, a member of the 1983 World Cup winning Squad as its next president. He shall succeed former India Skipper and Cricket icon Saurav Ganguly, who shall be completing his term shortly. When Binny assumes charge, it shall be for the first time, the Cricket body would have a World Cup winning player as its head. However, Ganguly’s contribution to the game as well as the manner in which he led from the front during his captaincy, cannot be minimized either. He has been one of the most popular players, who played the game with passion and also was candid both in his conversations and as an administrator. In fact, there are many sports commentators who are claiming that Ganguly did not get an extension since he did not campaign for the BJP in the West Bengal Assembly elections and thus earned the wrath of the Saffron Brigade which virtually controls the Board affairs now. The former India Captain had made it very clear that he would not be joining any political party and would therefore not campaign for any outfit either. It is difficult to believe that the BJP would stoop to such a level and deny the celebrated cricketer another term. The Board politics is very complex and it is likely that Ganguly got caught in it and had to leave. Many players believe that the reason for Virat Kohli giving up on Captaincy of all forms of the game was because he and Ganguly did not see eye to eye. Both have served their country with distinction and thus to attribute anything to either of them would be unfair. Yes, it is true that there was a controversy over the conversation which took place between the two and led to some uncharitable comments being made in cricket circles. Former India Coach Ravi Shastri, who also is not on the same page as Ganguly has welcomed the appointment of Binny as his successor. He said that Binny was the president of the Karnataka Cricket Association and therefore a natural choice. Although the change has taken place, yet one thing that is significant is that a former Test Player has been replaced by another former player and not by any politician or bureaucrat. The Board needs to be always headed by a Cricketer who understands the game and also knows about the problems both on the field as well as off it. One would have also liked to see the likes of Sunil Gavaskar, Rahul Dravid, Kapil Dev, MS Dhoni or Sachin Tendulkar also heading the Board at some stage. The charge that BJP was making deep inroads into the cricket affairs has to be substantiated. Those in the Board must at all times only ensure that Cricket does not suffer. There was a time when the UPA was in power but the shots in the BCCI were called by former Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. It is expected that Binny would bring in his experience and wide understanding of the game to take Cricket forward in this country.
