New Delhi, Oct 29 (IANS) Former India skipper Sourav Ganguly is now the BCCI President and while he has spoken about improving the situation of first-class cricketers and domestic cricket after taking over from the Committee of Administrators (CoA), what needs more attention is BCCIs position in the International Cricket Council (ICC).
Ever since N. Srinivasan was removed as BCCI’s representative at the ICC, the international body has left no stones unturned to push THE BCCI against the wall with some board members also questioning ICC Chairman Shashank Manohar’s position. A few have in fact gone on record to say that Manohar had a role to play in cutting BCCI’s wings.
And Ganguly’s biggest challenge in the coming months will be to make sure BCCI gets its due share from the world governing body. “India is supposed to get $372m from the ICC in the five-year cycle. It is heavy at the backend as we have the two World Cups then. We will make sure we get it,” Ganguly promised after taking over as President.
In fact, the formation of the new working group of the ICC is also a concern for board members who feel keeping India out clearly shows the future plan of action of the world body and something which needs immediate addressing by Ganguly and the new team of office bearers.
The ICC Working Group which will be chaired by Eddings from Cricket Australia, comprises of Greg Barclay (New Zealand Cricket), Tony Brian (Cricket Scotland), Ehsan Mani (Pakistan Cricket Board), Chris Nenzani (Cricket South Africa) and Ricky Skerritt (Cricket West Indies).
Speaking to IANS, one of the new office bearers said that these things need to be taken note of and any efforts by the international body to push BCCI against the wall must be acted upon with immediate effect.
“What has happened in the last couple of years is now a thing of the past. We will be sitting down for a number of meetings and one of the primary areas of focus will be India’s position with regards to the ICC. Some of the moves seem to show a specific line of thinking and also, this formation of the new working group also means that Chairman Manohar might be looking at another term from 2020 till 2022.
“Firstly, no timeline has been set for the working group to provide a presentation on the way forward and if Manohar is to continue — the groundwork shall start by February 2020 — and you can’t expect the team led by Eddings to provide any major input before Manohar’s term ends in May 2020,” the official explained.
He further said that while the BCCI team is new and young, they can always have an advisor who understands the working style of the ICC and will guide the new office bearers.
“This team is young and has the opportunity to not just make a mark, but also leave a legacy behind. But when it comes to dealing with the working style of the ICC, we might need someone who can come on board as an advisor. That person can also be someone who has dealt with the ICC before but is currently not involved with the BCCI,” he explained.
“Slowly looking to cut Indian representation off cannot be the way forward for the gentleman’s game and that must be understood. After all, we do know where the revenue comes from. If we won’t rise and restore BCCI’s pride, who will?”
–IANS
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