Outgoing BCCI chief Sourav Ganguly will be back as the president of his state unit, the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB), the former India captain said on Saturday.
Ganguly, who had to step down from the BCCI president's post as there is no precedence of anyone continuing in the top job for more than three years, had been the CAB president for four years between 2015 to 2019 before moving to the BCCI.
"Yes, I will be contesting the CAB polls. I plan to file my nomination, on October 22. I have been in the CAB for five years, and as per the Lodha Rules, I can continue for another four years," Ganguly told PTI.
There was a strong buzz that Ganguly's elder brother Snehasish would contest in place of Avishek Dalmiya for the top post, but the nomination of the former India player, could pout the oil on those equations.
"I will finalise my panel on October 20th. Let's see," Ganguly said.
Those tracking the developments, feel that a lot will depend on the kind of decisions that the powers that be in the BCCI, take on the ICC chairmanship.
"With Sourav, there will always be an element of drama involved. In 2019, he beat Brijesh (Patel) for the BCCI president's post in a literal photo finish, with power equations changing at last moment," a senior BCCI official and close witness to the events, told PTI on the condition of anonymity.
"Don't forget that there is an ICC chairman's nomination to be filed on October 20. Whether the powerful people in the BCCI have a change of heart, is the question," he said.
As of now, Ganguly's chances of becoming the BCCI nominee for the ICC chairmanship is less than 10 percent, going by the current mood of the Board.
If there is no change in heart among the BCCI mandarins, then Ganguly as CAB president, would remain relevant in the Board's administrative corridors in some capacity, being their representative at the various board meetings.
But there are always equations at play, and the picture will only be clear post the BCCI's Annual General Meeting (AGM), on October 18 in Mumbai.
There were rumours that Ganguly stepped down in acrimonious circumstances, but the soon-to-be IPL chairman Arun Dhumal rubbished them, in an interview to PTI.
