'Can't play and remain administrator forever,' says Sourav Ganguly on exit from BCCI

Former cricketer and outgoing president of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Sourav Ganguly, said on Thursday that “you can’t play forever, you can’t be administrator forever…after which you have to go” bringing to an end a needless controversy.

Ganguly’s comment came as a soothing balm at a time when West Bengal politics was in turmoil over the ex-Indian cricket captain’s exit from the cricketing body.

On Wednesday, the All India Trinamool Congress had taken it as a personal affront that Ganguly was denied a second term at the BCCI’s helm.

Speaking at an interactive event of a private bank in Kolkata, Ganguly said one cannot be a player or an administrator for ever, when someone asked him, what difference did he feel while wearing two hats.

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“The challenge of being a player was completely different. So, you can’t compare both. You can’t play forever, you can’t be an administrator forever…but it’s been great fun,” Ganguly said.

Ganguly said that he had been in (cricket) administration for eight years—Cricket Association of Bengal for five years, and then at the BCCI for three.

“All these have tenures… have terms… after which you have to leave, you have to go,” he said, adding that the challenge as a cricketer was a lot more, but as an administrator you have time for corrections, which was not possible while playing a match—and that was the major difference between the two roles.

According to Ganguly, as an administrator he realised that he could contribute so much and make things better for a cricketer. He recalled the last three years—when he was the BCCI chief—including organizing the Indian Premier League during the pandemic, broadcast rights going for all-time high rates, the Under-19 winning the World Cup, and the brilliant performance of the women’s cricket team.

Ganguly added that life, achievements, progress is about small goals, as you keep getting forward. “You don’t become Sachin Tendulkar in one day, you don’t become an Ambani in one day, or you don’t become Narendra Modi in one day. You have to spend life, time, days, weeks, months working towards it,” he said.