As much as it is about winning and losing, sport is also about making a fan nostalgic. As he entered a jam-packed conference room at the Cricket Centre — for the second time, with a young team of newly-elected apex council members accompanying him — Sourav Ganguly turned the clock back almost two decades.
Sporting the India blazer — he revealed it was the same that was presented to him when he was elevated to India’s captaincy in 2000 — Ganguly occupied his chair. And as he took centrestage, the four chairs that had been arranged for the other office-bearers were quickly pulled out. One couldn’t help but sense that the second India captain to become a BCCI president would continue to steal the limelight, just like he did during his glittering stint as India captain.
Vision statement
For the next 25 minutes, Ganguly spelt out his vision for what could well be just a 10-month tenure as BCCI president. He related taking over a muddled BCCI administration to him taking over as captain in the aftermath of the match-fixing scandal. He also reiterated that domestic cricket would be his priority, explained BCCI’s stand while dealing with ICC on the revenue sharing model and even explained his interpretation of the new rulebook that has been thrust on the BCCI as a result of the apex court-directed administrative reforms.
Amidst all this, the bespectacled Ganguly also reminisced about his return to the Wankhede Stadium, a place where he made his mark early on in what turned out to be a memorable career on the field.
“I came here as a young boy, I remember scoring my first hundred, it was against Pakistan in an Under-19 match at the Wankhede stadium, it was a different Wankhede stadium then. We stayed at the Sea Green Hotel next door,” Ganguly said. “I remember getting a hundred against Pakistan (U-19) which actually triggered my career. I got picked for Ranji Trophy, got my Test match hundred here (173 versus Sri Lanka in 1997), got my Test match wins here and then coming back to the IPL last year with Delhi Capitals and winning here again as BCCI president.”
If Ganguly can walk the talk and get Indian cricket back on its feet and running during his tenure, he along with the Indian cricket fraternity will continue to be nostalgic about October 23, when he proudly wore the India blazer for his second stint.
