Sourav Ganguly Interview: Sourav Ganguly has recalled his incident as the President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Sourav Ganguly has revealed that he had expected a special kind of strictness and stubbornness from the then board secretary and current ICC President Jai Shah, but he was impressed by his ‘honesty’ and the resolve to ‘correctly’ his ‘honesty’ and things.
Sourav Ganguly and Jai Shah were the world’s richest cricket board from October 2019 to September 2022. During this, he faced a crisis caused by Covid-19 epidemic. Kovid completely stopped sports activities for a few months.
Sourav Ganguly said in a special interview to PTI at his residence in Kolkata, ‘He (Jai’s) had his own working style, but the best thing was that he wanted to do things for Indian cricket correctly,
The former captain explained (in the context that Jai Shah is the son of Union Home Minister Amit Shah), ‘See, he had strength, support, then you expected a kind of strictness, persistence from him, but he used to work for Indian cricket.’
‘The relationship was cordial and is the same today …’
This was the first time Ganguly and Shah took over in BCCI. Earlier, Ganguly was the president of the Bengal Cricket Association (CAB), while Shah was an officer in the Gujarat Cricket Association.
In 2022, another former Test player Roger Binny was made BCCI President in 2022, while Jai Shah remained the BCCI Secretary till November 2024 and then became the youngest ICC president at the age of 36.
When Ganguly was asked how there was power balance and relationship between the heir of a political family and a famous cricket star, he said that his relationship was cordial and is the same today.
He said, ‘The relationship was very good. It is still very good today. When he came in September 2019 … he was quite young. Very associate, sociable person.
Ganguly said, ‘Of course, he had his own views and should have also. He wanted to do something new and still do it today. Now he is the President of the ICC and this is a big responsibility.
‘Shah got better in his work over time’
Ganguly believes that over time Shah became better in his work. Soon the former captain, who is 53 years old, said, ‘He supports the players a lot. As he learned, he became proficient in his work. His best thing is that he wants to do well for this game.
This veteran of Kolkata said that Shah had full realization of his position and he always wanted to do his work in a principle.
He said, ‘He is very honest and he was well aware of who he is and what could happen to him. Therefore, he wanted to work in the right and proper way all the time.
Ganguly said, ‘We all made mistakes, I also made, they also made. But this was never done intentionally and the game never stopped.
The former captain said that sometimes sometimes both of them meet each other. Ganguly said, ‘Of course he has progressed, now he is the ICC President. You see them occasionally because we live in different cities. I am no longer in administration, but I wish him all the best.