IPL spot-fixing petitioner Aditya Verma has backed Sourav Ganguly and Jay Shah for granting them an extended period as BCCI official. His support came after the plea has been filed in the supreme court to allow Ganguly and Jay to stay on as the president and secretary respectively instead of going on a mandatory cooling-off period.
Sourav Ganguly and Jay Shah together held their respective positions in November last year. Now, it’s close to 10 months since they joined their duty.
Aditya Verma, who is also the secretary in Bihar Cricket Association (BCA) has tagged Sourav Ganguly as the best man to lead the Indian board. He opines that he would never object if apex court permits an extended period to Ganguly and Jay.
Sourav Ganguly needs more time: Aditya Verma
Verma said that the BCCI president could not get sufficient time to implement new policies because of the coronavirus hiatus. So as per him, Ganguly and Jay need more time to bring their plans on the ground.
“I have always maintained that Sourav Ganguly is the best man to lead BCCI. I believe Dada and Jay Shah should get a full term to again stabilise BCCI,” Verma said.
“Therefore on behalf of CAB, I will not have an objection if Dada is allowed to continue as BCCI president,” he added.
“Out of his nine months, four months have already been lost due to coronavirus and any administrator needs time to implement plans and policies,” he said about Ganguly’s stint as the board president.
Notably, Aditya Verma is the original petitioner in the 2013 IPL spot-fixing scandal, which led to the apex court forming the Lodha panel.
Ganguly might have to abide by BCCI’s rule
According to BCCI’s rule book, any state board or BCCI official will have to go under three-years cooling off period if he has served in any administration position for six years.
So as stated, Sourav Ganguly had served over two tenures as the president in the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) before holding the position in BCCI. So, he might have to go under the cooling-off period if the Supreme Court rejects the plea mentioned above.