By Aminul Islam Mirja
NEW DELHI, Oct 23, 2019 (BSS) – Former captain of India’s national cricket team Sourav Ganguly today formally took over as the president of Board of Control for Cricket In India (BCCI) for the next ten-month term.
Ganguly, 47, currently the president of Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB), is the first Indian cricketer after the Maharaja of Vizianagaram to become the president of BCCI.
Along with Ganguly, Jay Shah, son of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, also took over as new secretary of the board while Arun Dhumal, younger brother of Minister of State for Finance and former BCCI president Anurag Thakur as treasurer.
They all were elected unopposed at the annual general meeting of the board as there was no election held for appointments of the posts, media reports said.
Meanwhile, the CAB President Sourav Ganguly has invited Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to attend the first day’s play of the second test cricket match with India at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on November 22.
“I have invited Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to witness the match at Eden Gardens and she has accepted the invitation,” he told media in Kolkata on Monday evening.
“The Bangladesh Prime Minister is expected to arrive in Kolkata on November 22,”he said adding the Bangladesh Premier will start the match by ringing the giant bell at the stadium.
He said that he, as the BCCI President, will also invite Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee personally to watch the test.
Elaborating CAB plan, Ganguly said that he will invite all the players of the two countries who had played the first-ever test match at the Bangabandhu Stadium in 2000 as he wants to make the upcoming India-Bangladesh Test in Kolkata a memorable event.
“We have a plan to felicitate the players at the end of the first day’s match on November 22,” he added.
Besides, the BCCI is expected to announce its squad tomorrow for the Bangladesh-India test cricket match in Kolkata, according to sources.