Sourav Ganguly is the best man to lead Bengal Cricket

Sourav Ganguly is the best man to lead Bengal cricket. (PTI Photo)

I had once done a piece which said the main problem for Sourav Ganguly is that he is Sourav Ganguly. May I say the piece has aged well. It has now been 5 years since I had written this piece. And things have not changed one bit here in Bengal. Except Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, there is no real star. Sourav is the only national or trans national icon from Bengal. He is the only ticket to global stardom. And that can be a two edged sword.

On the one hand he gets all the endorsements and brand deals while on the other he is envied by a cross section who will never get to the stage where he has. And in Bengal we hate to see a fellow Bengali be as successful. Moment that happens, we want to pull that person down.

Take the Cricket Association of Bengal elections. It is a given that Sourav, as Presidential candidate, will win. He has the support of the majority of the voters and there will be little or no competition. But that doesn’t mean post shots will not be taken. People will say why is he there and why is he not allowing others to come? Some will say he has done his time and should move on.

The truth is Sourav is no social reformer. Why should he leave it for someone else and walk away? In a democracy, it is his right to contest and win. If someone can beat him, let that person come and win the elections. No one has stopped anyone from doing so and to expect Sourav to give everything up is plain naïve.

To resent Sourav is an act of jealousy. The voters who will vote are all free agents and it is their call who they decide to elect. East Bengal club for example has already done a press conference in support of Ganguly. No one had asked them to do so. Mohun Bagan General Secretary Debasis Datta has openly voiced the club’s support for Sourav and yet again it is entirely the club’s decision who they support.

You will also read comments, which say Sourav should focus on something else and not CAB. Who are we to tell him what he or she should do? It is his choice. If he wants to contest and win and has the ability, he should most certainly do that. No one, and yes no one, can come and dictate what anyone should do.

As far as the CAB elections are concerned, Sourav, in my opinion, is the best man to lead the institution. I don’t see much improvement in Bengal cricket and I am worried. I don’t see too many players coming out of Bengal, both men and women, and we need to change that. I don’t see Bengal having a major voice in the BCCI, IPL matches being moved to Mullanpur was a case in point, and Sourav can be the voice at the national level. Clearly, and whether anyone likes it or not, he is the best man for the job. That’s the truth.