Sourav Ganguly to continue as BCCI President as SC delays decision till August: Report

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) President Sourav Ganguly and secretary Jay Shah are set to hold onto their positions for now after the Supreme Court (SC) of India decided to delay a significant board decision. On Wednesday, July 22, the SC were on course to hear a BCCI plea that allows the cricketing body to modify its constitution. The yet-to-be approved modification is intended to enable Sourav Ganguly and Jay Shah to remain in their BCCI positions instead of going on a mandatory cooling-off period. According to a report by ESPNCricinfo, a new tentative date set by the court is August 17.

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BCCI President Sourav Ganguly to hold onto to his role

The BCCI filed a plea to the SC in December 2019 by proposing a few amendments to their constitution. The amendments were proposed to undo some Lodha reforms implemented by the SC-appointed Lodha Committee in 2015. The committee was formed to analyse and implement actions for improving the BCCI.

A certain amendment proposed by the BCCI in December 2019 was to allow their President to work beyond his cut-off date of July 27. Many believe that Ganguly should continue since the coronavirus pandemic has taken 4 months off virtually no cricket played in the country, which has affected the BCCI's functioning. 

As per one of the Lodha reforms, any BCCI-related office-bearer, be it with a state association or board, should take a mandatory cooling-off period of three years after serving for six years. Both Sourav Ganguly and Jay Shah were appointed as BCCI President and Secretary in October 2019 when only nine months were remaining for the completion of their cumulative six years at the state and national cricketing units. Before being appointed as the President of the richest cricket board in the world, Ganguly was also the President of the Cricket Association of Bengal between 2015 and 2019.

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Sourav Ganguly-led BCCI’s take on IPL 2020

With Sourav Ganguly set to continue as BCCI President for now, he is currently contemplating several measures to organise the much-awaited Indian Premier League 2020 (IPL 2020) sometime later this year. The IPL 2020 was originally intended to launch on March 29 before the coronavirus pandemic-induced India lockdown prompted the BCCI to impose an indefinitely delay on the tournament. Recent reports now indicate that IPL 2020 is likely to be played between September 26 and November 8 with UAE emerging as the frontrunner to host the event.

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Sourav Ganguly Image credits: AP