Ganguly googly ahead of CAB polls

The buildup to elections in the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) had been low-key so far. Not any more. Unwittingly or otherwise, Sourav Ganguly got involved on Thursday when he threatened to leave Bengal, alleging that some of Jagmohan Dalmiya's supporters were trying to malign his father and elder brother.

"It's not Mr Dalmiya, but some others close to him who I won't name. You know who they are. They are saying unacceptable things about my family and it's become intolerable. Unless things change, I will think of moving out of Bengal," Sourav said, before clarifying that, at the moment, he is available for Bengal.

Before debating how frequently he can grace the Bengal team — given his Test commitments and India's relentless cricket schedule — or finding out how heavily his family members have been attacked by their detractors in the CAB in recent times, it's important to note the timing of this 'stroke'. The elections are on July 29 and just like two years ago when current president Prasun Mukherjee faced Dalmiya, Sourav has made clear whom he prefers.

He may deny this, but those following these developments over the years immediately noticed the similarity between the events of now and 2006 when Mukherjee — the then Commissioner of Police who had the chief minister's support and a stinging e-mail from Sourav against Dalmiya — lost a keenly-contested fight for the president's chair.

Sourav's brother Snehasish, a CAB assistant-secretary, was among them whose names got involved in the Rizwanur Rahman death case last September. Shortly after that Gautam Dasgupta, a member of CAB's board of trustees and an old Dalmiya aide, had written a letter seeking Snehasish's removal from the post to their father Chandi Ganguly, chairman of the board of trustees.