Although the BCCI has made it clear that Greg Barclay would continue to serve as the ICC chairman, there have been rumours that Jay Shah might represent India at ICC board meetings.
Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister of West Bengal, criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party-run Centre on Thursday for “not nominating” former Indian cricket captain Sourav Ganguly for the position of head of the International Cricket Council (ICC).
After Ganguly was removed from his position as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president earlier this month, Banerjee launched her second tirade against the BJP. She called it a “shameless political vengeance to favour a certain person.”
Mamata Banerjee Statement
“We are shocked. It is a shameless political vendetta to favour a particular person. It didn’t just come as a shock for the sports lovers in our country, but is a shameless decision for the entire world,” she told media persons in Kolkata.
“I had requested many leaders in the BJP government. I had even made an open request (to the Prime Minister). Ganguly was very much entitled (for the post). Then for which unknown reasons was Sourav deprived? Was the position reserved for someone else?”
“For what selfish reasons are the country’s real sportspersons being deprived? Today if Sachin Tendulkar or Mohammad Azharuddin were there, I would have backed them too. Sourav is a gentleman and maybe that’s why he didn’t open up. We are not taking this lightly,”
Although the BCCI has stated that it will support the current ICC chairman Greg Barclay in keeping the position, there have been rumours that India’s representation at ICC board meetings could be Jay Shah, the BCCI secretary and son of Union home minister Amit Shah.
Samik Bhattacharya BJP spokeperson
“The TMC is desperately trying to divert the attention from all the burning issues like corruption, unemployment and paucity of funds. It has no other issues and that’s why [they are] dragging a personality like Sourav Ganguly into such politics. The TMC is actually tarnishing Ganguly’s image,”