KARACHI: Former Indian cricketer and 1983 World Cup-winner Roger Binny has replaced Sourav Ganguly as the president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
Binny, who was selected for the role during the BCCI Annual General Meeting on Tuesday, will be the 36th chief of the cash-rich body.
Binny featured in 27 Tests and 72 one-day internationals over the course of his career from 1979 to 1987. Meanwhile, in first-class cricket he averaged 34 with the bat and took 205 wickets in 136 matches.
The right-armer claimed 18 wickets during the 1983 World Cup and played a key role in his side’s triumphant campaign.
Earlier, former captain’s Ganguly’s backers had claimed that he has been forced out for refusing to join the ruling political party.
Ganguly, 50, is said to have declined to join Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Ganguly’s political allegiance has been a regular source of media speculation in recent months and the country’s home minister Amit Shah visited him at home earlier this year.
India’s top court recently relaxed a rule that barred sporting officials from consecutive terms in office in the same position, opening the way for Shah’s son Jay – the BCCI secretary – and Ganguly to seek reappointment.
The BJP have denied involvement in the board’s looming vote and accused their opponents of politicising the issue.
“Sourav Ganguly is a cricketing legend. Some people are now shedding crocodile tears about the changes in BCCI,” said the party’s vice-president Dilip Ghosh.
The story includes input from AFP.
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