With Dalmiya back, Dada can get plum post

Sabi Hussain

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 3

Will Jagmohan Dalmiya’s dramatic return to the Indian cricket Board would be beneficial for former India captain Sourav Ganguly?

The speculations are rife that Ganguly could be introduced as the new chairman of the Indian Premier League (IPL) after the eighth edition.

A section within the BCCI is also of the view that the ‘Prince of Kolkata’ could well become the next director of Team India after Ravi Shastri’s stint ends at the completion of the World Cup.

A reliable BCCI source, who was present at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Chennai on Monday, informed that Ganguly’s name indeed came up for discussion. But it has been kept on hold till the term of Anil Kumble’s term, as Technical committee chairman, comes to an end.”

However, it has been learnt that some of the Board members privately discussed the possibility of replacing present IPL chairman Ranjib Biswal with Ganguly after the IPL-8.

It’s no secret that Ganguly’s career blossomed when Dalmiya was at the helm of Indian cricket. The relationship between the two was more personal given Ganguly’s father, Chandidas, and Dalmiya ran the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) for several years together. Ganguly is also the joint secretary of the CAB and, according to an insider, Dalmiya wanted the former India skipper to represent the National Cricket Club at the AGM.

“Dalmiya would not shy away from offering a bigger role in the BCCI to Ganguly. But that would not happen before the next AGM in September. Dalmiya would take some time to settle down and put the house in order. The important decisions would only be taken during the next AGM.

Ganguly is also not immediately ready to accept any new responsibilty,” the source said. Ganguly has a squeaky clean image as he was part of the Supreme Court-appointed probe panel headed by Justice Mukul Mudgal and Dalmiya would definitely look to leverage on his untarnished image.