Kolkata: Former India captain Sourav Ganguly Tuesday shot off a letter to the BCCI raising concerns over the manner in which the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) is running cricket and also criticising the handling of the sexual abuse allegations against the cricket board CEO Rahul Johri.
In the letter, the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) president wrote that he is worried about the reputation of the BCCI and the state of the sport in the country.
“I write this mail to you all with the deep sense of fear as to where Indian cricket administration is going. Having played the game for a long period of time, where our lives were ruled by winning and losing, and the image of Indian cricket was of paramount importance to us, we wake up looking at how our cricket is faring even now,” the mail read.
“But with deep sense of worry, (I used the word worry) I beg to state that the way things have gone in the last couple of years, the authority of Indian cricket to the world and the love and belief of millions of fans is on the way down.
“Indian cricket with its massive following has been built over the years of hard work from superb administrators and greatest of cricketers who have managed to bring thousands of fans to the ground. I at the present moment, think it’s in danger. Hope people are listening,” the mail further read.
Not taking the name of Johri, Ganguly raised the topic of the recent allegations of sexual harassment against the BCCI CEO, saying that while the reports in itself are worrying, the manner in which it has been handled by the CoA has left a lot to be desired.
“I don’t know how far it’s true, but the recent reports of harassment has really made the BCCI look poor, more so the way it has been handled. The committee of COA from four has come down to two and now the two seems to be divided,” he wrote.
Not many days ago, CoA chief Vinod Rai set up an independent panel to look into the matter while co-member Diana Edulji wanted Johri to be immediately removed.
Ganguly, who is also a member of the cricket advisory committee — comprising Sachin Tendulkar and V.V.S.Laxman — turned to the three BCCI office-bearers – acting president C.K.Khanna, acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary and treasurer Anirudh Chaudhry for direction in the mail.
IANS