After being dropped from the Test team despite Sourav Ganguly’s assurances, the Bengal wicket-keeper unwittingly drew attention to a new practice that is undermining the cricket board’s governance norms: the former India captain and current BCCI president’s unauthorized say in selection matters. In order to preserve the selection committee’s independence and autonomy, the BCCI constitution prohibits its president from having any role in selecting the national team. The Supreme Court-approved constitution states that “the President has no say in selections.” The secretary, who acts as a convenor but has no say in selection, is the only BCCI office-bearer authorized to be present. However, The Indian Express spoke to three past and present selectors who confirmed that Ganguly was a regular feature at selection meetings during his tenure.
A senior BCCI official went so far as to claim that Ganguly has attended every selection meeting since assuming the presidency of the BCCI in October 2019. Raising the issue of propriety, two selectors stated that Ganguly would log in for online selection meetings and that “no one could object because of his stature and position.” One of them admitted that his presence “bullied” them on a regular basis. “It made many committee members feel uneasy and guarded in expressing their opinions,” said the selector, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The current group of selectors, which also includes Debashish Mohanty, Sunil Joshi, and Harvinder Singh, has played 43 Tests and 195 ODIs. The previous team had played nine Tests and 28 One-Day Internationals. Last month, Saha discussed the message he received from Ganguly after scoring a half-century despite a neck injury against New Zealand.
Ganguly’s proximity to the selection committee was first revealed on October 24, 2019, a day after he was elected president of the BCCI, when the board tweeted a picture with the caption: “All smiles at the Senior Selection Committee meeting earlier this afternoon as the teams for the forthcoming T20I & Test series against Bangladesh were announced.”The photograph showed Ganguly sitting between the then-chief selector, Prasad, and BCCI secretary Jay Shah, as well as then-captain Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and other selectors.
When the picture started making the rounds on social media again, Ganguly denied it was from a selection meeting. “I want to make it clear that the picture was not from a selection committee meeting,” he said in an interview with PTI. In response to allegations that he influenced team selection, he told the news agency, “I don’t think I need to answer anyone, anything (on this), and dignify any of these baseless accusations.” I am the president of the BCCI, and I perform the duties of the president of the BCCI. I’ve appeared in 424 international matches for India. Isn’t it a good idea to remind people about it from time to time?”When The Indian Express sent Ganguly a detailed questionnaire on the subject, he did not respond.
