Sourav Ganguly likely to be BCCI President; Jay Shah Secretary

Former India captain and Cricket Association of Bengal president Sourav Ganguly has emerged as a consensus candidate as the next BCCI President while Gujarat Cricket Association president Jay Shah will be the new Secretary. Both Ganguly and Shah will be filing their nominations on October 14 along with Himachal Cricket Association President Arun Dhumal, brother of former BCCI president Anurag Thakur, who will contest for the post of treasurer. The BCCI elections will be held on October 23 and the last date for nominations are on October 14.

Nominated candidates

In a 5-hour long meeting starting from Sunday afternoon till late evening, two names emerged for discussion  - Ganguly and former Karnataka State Cricket Association president Brijesh Patel. At one point, Patel had become the front runner when Ganguly decided to put his name and was even willing to contest. While Patel was backed by former BCCI president N Srinivasan while Anurag Thakur-led most associations felt there was a need for a big face to rescue and restore the image of BCCI.

Ganguly, however, will be the BCCI head for less than a year as will have to go through a cooling off period 
after every two terms of three-year each (which he will complete in September next year), as per Supreme Court orders and Lodha Recommendations. After hectic discussions, a consensus was arrived at by various sports associations in which this was decided:

Following 3 candidates will file nomination tomorrow (Oct 14) and will be uncontested: 

President: Sourav Ganguly 
Secretary: Jay Shah 
Treasurer: Arun Dhumal 

For the post Vice-president and joint secretary, names are still being discussed and there is no consensus so far. The posts for Vice-president and joint secretaries are likely to be contested.

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About Sourav Ganguly

Sourav Ganguly is known for his vast contribution to cricket in India in a career span of around 15 years. The 2003 World Cup Final would always be remembered as his biggest achievement. Known as 'Dada', he was one of the successful ODI batsmen. He took over as the captain of the Indian cricket team in 2002, after which India continued its winning streak till the 2003 ICC World Cup finals. His career soon saw a downfall after the loss of his personal form and the emergence of the new leader - Rahul Dravid. However, he made a come back soon after by scoring in Test cricket. Ganguly retired in 2008 after playing his last Test match against Australia. Post-retirement, the cricketer continued to play the game for this state team Bengal. He also signed up with Kolkata for the Indian T20 League and represented them until 2010. However, he was left out in 2011 as none of the franchises bid for him. In 2012, Ganguly led his franchise in absence of Yuvraj Singh. Ganguly also took over as the commentator. 

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