Are BCCI selectors getting ‘bullied’ by Sourav Ganguly? Serious claims made against board president

While the man earned praises and accolades for the way he had led the Indian team, now Sourav Ganguly is all in the news but not for the right reasons. It has been learnt that Ganguly regularly attends team selection meetings.

So why is THIS a problem? According to the constitution of the BCCI, the board president has no role in selection meetings. In fact, one of the former selectors even claimed that Ganguly has attended every selection meeting since he took over as the BCCI president in October 2019. 

He added that even though his presence would make several members uncomfortable, no one could express displeasure. One member even said that they felt ‘bullied’ by Ganguly attending these meetings.

“Because of his stature and position, no one could object. It made many committee members uncomfortable and guarded in expressing their opinion,” the selector said, according to Indian Express.

The Ganguly issue came to light, especially after the Virat Kohli and BCCI President saga transpired in December last year. Soon after, a picture of Ganguly and several members of the selection committee along with Kohli and Rohit Sharma sitting together, taken in 2019 started doing the rounds in social media.

However, when the picture emerged again last month, Ganguly said: “I don’t think I need to answer anybody, anything (on this) and dignify any of these baseless accusations. I am the president of the BCCI and I do the job of what the president of the BCCI should be doing. (I have played) 424 international matches for India. Not a bad idea at times to remind people about it, isn’t it?”

After the Kohli incident, Wriddhiman Saha, who was dropped from the Indian team for the Test series against Sri Lanka in February had said that the Board President had promised to secure his place in the Indian Test team.

“After scoring 61 against New Zealand at Kanpur, Dadi (Ganguly) congratulated me over WhatsApp and mentioned, ‘As long as I’m here (helming the BCCI), you would be in the team’. Such a message from the BCCI president really boosted my confidence. What I’m struggling to understand is how things have changed so fast,” Saha had told.

Soon after the claims by Saha, BCCI officials were asking ‘in what capacity did Ganguly give Saha any assurances on selection?’, TOI had reported.

“The Rahul Dravid-bit is understandable. He’s the national coach and may have wanted to keep his players in the loop. That’s between the coach and the players. What was the need for a BCCI official to speak with Saha and assure him of a place in the side? ‘I don’t need to worry till he’s there’. Kitni galat baat hai yeh (How wrong it is to say something like this),” officials added.