'I remember when Sourav Ganguly...': Sachin Tendulkar's cryptic reply on whether he'll become next BCCI president
Finally, the man himself, Sachin Tendulkar has broken silence on whether he sees himself joining the BCCI in any capacity, let alone become its president.
Sourav Ganguly and now Roger Binny - the two most recent BCCI presidents have been former India cricketers. Ganguly, one of India's most successful captains, was appointed as the 35th BCCI chief in October of 2019 after serving 33 months as president of the Cricket Association of Bengal and remained in charge for three years. In October of last year, former India all-rounder Roger Binny was selected as BCCI's 36th president indicating a paradigm shift in the board's administration that more former cricketers could hold the top position in the years to come.
One of the biggest takeaways in Indian cricket when Ganguly was in charge was how two of his former teammates were given a promotion. Rahul Dravid, who was serving as the National Cricket Academy chief, succeeded Ravi Shastri as the head coach of the Indian cricket team while VVS Laxman replaced The Wall at NCA. It was during that period when reports started to surface that another one of Ganguly's former India teammates, and the most prolific, i.e. – Sachin Tendulkar too was in conversation about a potential role in the BCCI, none of which were concrete or could come to any fruition.
Finally, the man himself, Tendulkar has broken silence on whether he sees himself joining the BCCI in any capacity, let alone become its president. On being asked whether the post of BCCI president ever accompany him, Tendulkar used a rather cryptic analogy to indicate that we may never see him aligning himself with the board.
"See I haven't done much fast bowling. Sourav still considered himself one. I remember when Sourav took wickets in Toronto, he kept telling 'If I push myself a little harder, I can maybe crank up to 140'. I said 'Of course you can'. He practiced for 2 days, and his back gave up. After that he has never spoken about 140. I can't bowl at 140," Tendulkar said at the India Today Conclave.
Unlike Ganguly, Tendulkar has no experience in administration role, as after retirement, he has either been part of the coaching staff of Mumbai Indians or involved with the Tendulkar Middlesex Global Academy. Outside of the two roles, Tendulkar has occasionally done commentary but that has been restricted to certain big matches in ICC tournament such as the 2015 and 2019 World Cups.
