Can't be an administrator forever, will move on to do bigger things: Sourav

Kolkata: Amid the chatter around his departure from the BCCI as president, Sourav Ganguly on Thursday said he "can't be an administrator forever" and "will move on to do bigger things".

The former India captain is set to be replaced as board president by 1983 World Cup winning-team member Roger Binny in the apex body's upcoming AGM (Annual General Meeting).

After his name did not feature among options for the top post during a meeting of senior administrators with political clout in New Delhi last week, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) accused the BJP of "trying to humiliate" the former India skipper for not joining the party.

"Since the BJP floated such propaganda during and after the 2021 polls, it will surely be the responsibility of the party to respond to such speculations (that politics is behind Ganguly not getting a second term as BCCI chief). It seems the BJP is trying to humiliate Sourav," TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said.

TMC MP Santanu Sen tweeted: "Another example of political vendetta. Son of @AmitShah can be retained as Secretary of #BCCI. But @SGanguly99 can't be. Is it because he is from the State of @MamataOfficial or he didn't join @BJP4India? We are with you Dada!"

"I will move on to something else now. No matter what I have done in life, my best days were certainly the ones in which I represented the Indian cricket team at the highest level. I have headed the BCCI and I will go on to do bigger things. For now, that is the plan. I am not somebody who takes history into account. Earlier, it was a belief that East lacked the talent to play at the highest level but the scenario is slowly changing. You don't become a Sachin Tendulkar or an Ambani or Narendra Modi in one day, it takes years of hard work and dedication to get there," Ganguly said at an event of Bandhan Bank where he was roped in as the bank's brand ambassador.

Ganguly stated that he was the president of the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) for five years and the president of BCCI for three years.

"After all these terms, you have to leave and move on. As an administrator, you have to contribute a lot and make things better for the team. Me being a player, who was around for a long time, understood it. I enjoyed my time as an administrator thoroughly. You cannot play forever and you cannot remain in administration forever," he remarked.

Speaking about the high points of his tenure as BCCI president, he said: "I think, I thoroughly loved it. If you see the last three years so many good things have happened. IPL during Covid, such difficult times for all of us in the country. We didn't know how to deal with it. The broadcast rights went to an all-time high. The Under-19 team winning the World Cup. I wish the women won the Commonwealth Games gold, they were in a position to beat Australia. The senior team winning in Australia. Those were great moments as an administrator."

Wishing Team India luck for the upcoming T20 World Cup, he said: "I hope they do well in Australia because it's a tremendous cricket team. There's so much talent, so much power and class in the side. You expect them to win all the time. But the challenge of being a player was completely different. So, you can't compare both."

Ganguly began his administrative career in 2015 after he became the president of CAB. In October 2019, he took the chair of the BCCI president. It was during his tenure when the Covid pandemic caused significant hindrances to the cricket ecosystem throughout the country; however, the BCCI eventually overcame the challenges to bring international cricket back in India, as well as the Indian Premier League (IPL) back to the country after the latter was organised in the UAE in 2020 and 2021.

Chandra Shekhar Ghosh, MD and CEO, Bandhan Bank, said: "Sourav has been one of the most successful captains of the Indian cricket team due to his foresight, dedication and commitment to the game. There is a lot of congruence in the values that Sourav and Bandhan Bank embody. He is also a global icon and commands respect from all quarters. We are confident that this partnership will help us garner more attention, leading to greater awareness of the brand, and thus propelling us further in our growth story."