World Cup Hero Binny Replaces Ganguly as India Board President | DoramasQueen

World Cup winner Roger Binny on Tuesday appointed Sourav Ganguly as president of the politically embattled Cricket Board of India, the sport’s richest body.

Vice President Rajeev Shukla told reporters that 67-year-old secretary Jay Shah has once again won the chairmanship of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) at a meeting held in Mumbai.

The BCCI, with a net worth of $2 billion, wields considerable influence over international cricket but has been marred by several court cases involving the powerful organisation.

Bangalore-born Binny, who was part of India’s World Cup-winning team in 1983, replaced Ganguly, considered one of cricket’s greatest captains.

Ganguly, 50, was originally elected for a second term as president but was ousted after refusing to join India’s ruling party.

The media has often come under fire for Ganguly’s political allegiances, especially when the country’s home minister and BCCI secretary Joy’s father Amit Shah visited his home earlier this year.

Politicians in Ganguly’s home state of West Bengal, where the former sportsman enjoys god-like status, have accused the former batsman of belittling him.

‘Political Revenge’
India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is making a strong bid to return to power in the eastern state after losing an election marred by deadly violence last year.

Opposition MP Shantanu Sen tweeted that Ganguly’s sacking was an act of political vendetta by the government.

Shah’s Hindu nationalist BJP denied any involvement in Ganguly’s sacking and accused its opponents of politicizing the issue.

Ganguly has not spoken publicly about his departure, but reports suggest that he intends to stay on, especially after India’s Supreme Court recently barred sports officials from holding the same post. A rule of thumb is to relax.

Pune is well-suited to the high-profile role, making his mark on and off the field, observers say.

Sports journalist R. “He has cricket status and is no stranger to cricket management,” Kaushik said.

“What he has achieved as a cricketer in terms of management, we know what he has done on the field,” he told AFP.

Born into an Anglo-Indian family, Binny can open the innings or bat as a middle-order batsman. He scored 830 runs in 27 Tests and 629 runs in 72 ODIs.

But his medium pace bowling and ability to swing the ball both ways makes him a useful player in the team. He took 47 wickets in Test cricket and 77 wickets in ODI cricket.

After retiring in 1987, Bunny began working in coaching and sports administration.

He coached the junior team that won the Under-19 World Cup in 2000 and became the national selector in 2012 after working with the Karnataka State Cricket Association.