Lodha reforms has to be implemented, says the CAB President
Kolkata: Former India captain Sourav Ganguly on Tuesday termed the discussion about him being the next Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president as “it’s too early” to draw any such conclusions.
Sourav, who returned to the city last night after spending holiday with his family in Munich is tipped as the frontrunner to be the next BCCI President. But the man himself is unperturbed by the speculation doing rounds. It is getting a bit uneasy for Ganguly as he has been getting a number of calls since his name was floated to take over the reins of BCCI president.
“It’s better not to take my name. There is no reason to take my name. It’s too early,” Ganguly told reporters a day after the Supreme Court, in a historic verdict, sacked Indian cricket board president Anurag Thakur and secretary Ajay Shirke for not implementing the July 18 Justice RM Lodha recommendations.
The apex court also asked other office-bearers who don’t meet the qualifications set by the court to be on the board to demit office or stand disqualified.
Ganguly, who is the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) president at present said nobody has got any choice but to implement the Lodha recommendations in toto.
“We have got no choice. Nobody has no choice any choice but to implement them,” Ganguly, who took over the top post of CAB after predecessor Jagmohan Dalmiya’s demise in 2015, said.
There is slight confusion about how many years Sourav has been in the office bearers post in CAB. Since he became the joint secretary in July 2014, but due to the demise of Jagmohan Dalmiya he was unanimously elected as the President. He has been holding the post of President of the association since September 2015.
On being asked about the confusion about his term for holding the post in CAB, Sourav reckons, “I still have two more years in the office as I have just finished a little over a year.”
He further added,”I still have two more years in the position. The recommendations have put a cap of three years for one post.”
The CAB is expected to see an exodus of incumbent office bearers who do not meet the Lodha recommendations. Quizzed about the replacements and whether he has them in mind, Ganguly replied in the affirmative.
“I have called for a meeting of all office bearers tomorrow at 5PM. We will find a way out. It’s not that there are no replacements. Again, we all have to implement it, there’s no way out.”
A three-judge bench, led by outgoing Chief Justice TS Thakur and also comprising Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud, said those qualified under the new guidelines could stay on provided they gave an undertaking to carry out reforms intended to make the BCCI more transparent.