New Delhi: Former World Cup winner Roger Binny has been appointed as the new BCCI President. In a controversial move, the BCCI decided to sack former India Captain Sourav Ganguly and replace him with Roger Binny. Binny was serving as President of the Karnataka Cricket Association. Roger Binny took over officially as the board president during the BCCI Annual General Meeting (AGM) on October 18.
Roger Binny on his election as BCCI President said, “As the BCCI president, I want to primarily focus on 2 things. First is the prevention of injuries to the players. Jasprit Bumrah got injured just before the World Cup, which affects the whole plan. Second, I want to focus on the pitches in the country.”
Outgoing BCCI President Sourav Ganguly said, “I wish Roger (Binny) all the best. The new group will take this forward. BCCI is in great hands. Indian cricket is strong so I wish them all the luck.”
According to some media reports, there was a high-level meeting in Delhi which was attended by a senior cabinet minister where former BCCI chief N Srinivasan along with other office bearers were present. Srinivasan in this meeting questioned Ganguly’s tenure and his style of functioning was questioned too. The former BCCI chief also raised the matter of conflict of interest. According to media reports, Srinivasan questioned Ganguly, for promoting a rival brand which is in conflict with team India sponsors. After all, these questions and allegations against Ganguly Roger Binny’s name were proposed as his successor.
According to reports, at the high-level meeting in Delhi, it was decided to replace Ganguly with a former cricketer. Roger Binny was the only player currently serving in any state association. Rest all are administrators. There is also an age-cap rule which doesn’t allow people over 70 years of age. Binny, who is a former cricketer is 67 and was serving as the Karnataka State President. Thus, he became the ideal candidate for the BCCI. It should be noted here that Ganguly like Binny was also heading Bengal Cricket Association before becoming BCCI President.
Binny was a star performer at the 1983 World Cup which India won. In 8 matches, he picked up 18 wickets, a tournament-high in the World Cup in England.
