Sourav Ganguly set to return as CAB president

The outgoing BCCI chief has said he will contest the October 31 elections in the Bengal association

After being denied another term in the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), outgoing president Sourav Ganguly is not taking a sabbatical from cricket administration. He is set to contest elections to return as the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) president.

Sourav Ganguly  (PTI)

“I will be contesting the CAB polls,” he told reporters in Kolkata.

Before heading BCCI, Ganguly spent five years as office-bearer in CAB, first as joint secretary, and then as president after the death of Jagmohan Dalmiya. In 2015, Ganguly was declared CAB president by Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee. He is set to head the state body again and his decision to return will only add fuel to his rumoured interest in entering active politics.

On Thursday, Ganguly seemed to suggest he was at peace with his BCCI term coming to an end. “No one can continue as the administrator throughout his life,” he said at a promotional event. However, he added: “I will go on to do bigger things in the future”, which got people talking.

“There has been no BCCI president who has served for more than three years in independent India. All this media speculation about Dada (Ganguly) being told, or that a few members were against him, are all baseless,” BCCI treasurer Arun Dhumal told PTI, in comments seen as an effort to ease the situation.

Ganguly will be attending the BCCI AGM in Mumbai on Tuesday, where he will hand over the reins to 1983 World Cup star Roger Binny, who is set to become the new BCCI president unopposed.The CAB elections are due on October 31 and 22nd is the last date to file nominations.