Who is Roger Binny, the man succeeding Sourav Ganguly as BCCI president

Roger Binny (R) with Sourav Ganguly (L) in a photo from 2007

Roger Binny is all set to succeed Sourav Ganguly as the next BCCI president. Meanwhile, Jay Shah, son of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, will continue as BCCI Secretary for his second consecutive term. Binny, 67, will officially take charge of BCCI on October 18 at the AGM in Mumbai. The election will be a mere formality as all candidates have been chosen unopposed.

A hero of India’s 1983 World Cup-winning squad, Roger Binny is also the first Anglo-Indian of Scottish origin to play cricket for India. He was a cricket all-rounder, remembered for his impressive bowling performance in the cricket world cup.

In the 1983 Cricket World Cup, he was also the highest wicket-taker. He took 18 wickets in 8 games.

Binny was instrumental in India’s victory at the 1985 World Series Cricket Championship in Australia. He took 17 wickets in the tournament.

He has played 27 Tests and 72 ODIs for India.

In September 2012, Roger Binny was appointed as a member of the selection panel of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). In 2015, his son Stuart Binny’s selection in the World Cup squad created a bit of a controversy with allegations of favouritism. However, the BCCI clarified that Binny recused himself from the meeting when his son’s name came up for discussion.

Binny is currently serving as an Office Bearer at the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA).

After hectic parleys and back-channel discussions in the past one week, it was decided that the 67-year-old from Bengaluru would be the 36th Board president, one of the sources familiar with the development, said.

Binny, though, is a surprise choice to head the BCCI. However, hints were dropped that his name will crop up for some position when Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) named him as its representative at BCCI AGM instead of secretary Santosh Menon.

"Roger is one of the finest human beings and a thorough gentleman, who has graced the field for India. Plus he is also a World Cup hero and has a squeaky clean image. He had resigned from selection committee as his son Stuart back then was in contention to be in Indian team," said another BCCI source. "He is the right choice for the job," the source added.

(With inputs from PTI)