Sourav Ganguly breaks silence over speculations on his BCCI exit

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly ended silence over his BCCI tenure with a rather cryptic remark as he took part in an event on Thursday. It was reported earlier this week that Ganguly will not have a second term as the president of the board, and that former India cricketer Roger Binny will instead succeed Ganguly in the role. The 50-year-old Ganguly became the president of BCCI in 2019.

Speaking at an event organised in Kolkata, Ganguly hinted that his tenure at the BCCI might have come to an end.

"I was the president of the Cricket Association of Bengal for five years. I have been president of BCCI for years. After all these terms, you have to leave and go. As an administrator, you have to contribute a lot and make things better for the team. Me being a player, who was around for a long time, understood it. I enjoyed my time as an administrator thoroughly. You cannot play forever and you cannot remain in administration forever," said Ganguly.

Further in the event, Ganguly also stated that he will "go on to do bigger things in life," as he recalled his playing days.

"Whatever you do in life, I keep telling everyone that the best days were when you play for the country. I have seen so much after that. I've been the president of the CAB (Cricket Association of Bengal), I was the president of BCCI, I will go on to do bigger things in future. But those 15 years were the best days of my life," said the former India skipper.

Sourav Ganguly began his administrative career in 2015 when he became the president of the CAB. In October 2019 he took the chair for the BCCI. His tenure saw Covid-19 pandemic causing significant hindrances to the cricket ecosystem throughout the country; however, the BCCI eventually tackled past the challenges to bring international cricket, as well as the Indian Premier League back to the country after the latter was organised in the UAE in 2020 and 2021.

However, Ganguly's tenure also saw a rather controversial exit of Virat Kohli as the Indian captain; while Kohli announced his resignation from the post in T20Is before the World Cup in October last year, he was replaced as ODI captain two months later. In January earlier this year, Kohli also left the leadership role in Test matches.

At a BCCI meeting held at the Trident Hotel in Mumbai on Tuesday, all office bearers from different parts of the country from various associations filed nominations for different positions on the board.

The discussions were held in the internal BCCI meeting in the lead-up to the elections, scheduled for 18 October.