I would love to see Sourav Ganguly continue as BCCI President till 2023 World Cup, says Sunil Gavaskar
Former India cricketer Sunil Gavaskar said that he would love to see BCCI President Sourav Ganguly extend his tenure till the 2023 World Cup. Sourav Ganguly had been appointed as the BCCI President in October 2019 and his tenure is due to end on July 26.
The reason for this 10-month tenure is the mandatory cooling-off period that every BCCI office-bearer has to go through after being associated with the administration for six years.
Sourav Ganguly had been the president of the Cricket Association of Bengal for five years before becoming the BCCI President and thus it was mandatory for him to go through this cooling off period according to BCCI's new constitution.
Sourav Ganguly capable of lifting the BCCI administration: Sunil Gavaskar
However, Sunil Gavaskar believes that the decision to follow the cooling-off period can be overturned by the Supreme Court and said he wanted Sourav Ganguly to continue as the BCCI President at least till the 2023 World Cup.
“The Supreme Court of India’s decision to postpone the hearing of several applications by the BCCI and some of its affiliates has also left Indian cricket in limbo. Sure, there are many more important cases than cricket before the highest court in the land but Indian cricket lovers are anxiously awaiting the decision. Personally, I would love to see Sourav and his team carry on till the end of the 2023 World Cup in India but let’s see what the court decides. Just like Sourav lifted the Indian team after the early murky times and restored the faith of the Indian cricket lovers, so also he and his team look capable of doing that with the BCCI administration," Sunil Gavaskar wrote for Mid-Day.
Sunil Gavaskar also spoke about BCCI implementing a policy for providing the former players with medical expenses. Sunil Gavaskar felt that since the former cricketers did not earn anywhere near what today's players earn, they deserved a no-limit policy which would sufficiently cover their medical expenses.
“The cost of some of these treatments is multi times more than the medical assistance limit currently for ex-cricketers who played for peanuts and do not even have a fraction of the money the current lot has. So, each case should be treated separately and if it is a very serious medical problem then there should be no limit for the medical assistance from the BCCI,” Sunil Gavaskar said.
Sourav Ganguly has brought many positive reforms to the BCCi administration after becoming the BCCI President and one of his masterstrokes was to appoint Rahul Dravid as the Head of Cricket at the National Cricket Academy.
India also played their first pink-ball Test during this period and Sourav Ganguly promises to bring more such positive reforms to Indian cricket.