Mithun Manhas takes over BCCI top job, Ganguly’s absence raises eyebrows

From ‘Mithun Manhas who’ to the hotseat of BCCI president on Sunday – it had been quite a journey for the former domestic stalwart. The former Delhi captain, dressed nattily in a white suit at the AGM in Mumbai, looked the part and pledged to keep the cricketers’ interests in the mind in the initial tenure of three years.

 “It’s a huge responsibility as well. I give my assurance that I’ll be committed to do it to the best of my ability and dedication and passion,” said Manhas, a veteran of 157 first-class and 130 List A matches for Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir with more than 15,000 runs against his name.

There is no denying that Manhas is a lightweight compared to his past two predecessors – Roger Binny and Sourav Ganguly – but there is a school of thought which feels it’s more about the administrative acumen rather credentials as a player which would matter in the end.

 There have been a number of arguments as to what swung the deal for Manhas, the most convincing of them being to create a perception of giving the top job to someone from J &K, but a former first class cricketer and TV pundit feels he has a strong case.

‘’At the end of the day, it’s never about whether you’ve played 100 internationals or not. It’s about the work you do, the leadership you show, and how deserving you are of the post. This is a proud moment for every domestic cricketer who has dedicated their life to the game,’’ remarked Sreevats Goswami, a former Bengal stumper and IPL player.

The agenda for formation of the new executive committee was a formality at the BCCI headquarters as Manhas was the lone candidate to have filed the nomination for presidency. Rajeev Shukla, who had been an interim president since Binny stepped down in July after turning 70 years, will continue as the vice-president and Devajit Saikia gets another term as the secretary.

 Prabhtej Bhatia will be the joint secretary while Raghuram Bhat, former India spinner, is the treasurer. Former Saurashtra captain Jaydev Shah has been inducted into the apex council while Arun Dhumal will continue as the chairman of the IPL along with Khairul Jamal Majumdar as a member.

 What struck a somewhat discordant note was the absence of Sourav Ganguly in the meeting, which meant the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) went unrepresented in the AGM for the second year in the running. There were a few eyebrows raised in cricketing circles as Ganguly, who took a fresh guard as CAB president only earlier this week, and Harbhajan Singh’s name were being touted for a while as Binny’s potential successor.

Bhajji, who represented Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) in the meeting, pinned his hopes on Manhas: ‘’The BCCI has started this and there cannot be anything greater for any cricketer that he can also give something back. I’ve played a lot of cricket with Mithun since U19 days and I am very happy for him. I hope that those things which he (perhaps) didn’t get in terms of facilities as a cricketer or could not get to that point (in career), from whatever he has learnt so far in his life, he does such a job that no young cricketer is left behind due to lack of infrastructure.”

 Fielding questions from the media, Manhas admitted that his stint with J&K Cricket Association (JKCA) as an administrator will help him in his new role. “Maybe my work, my credentials (worked in my favour to become the president). Credentials both as an administrator, as well as a cricketer. Over the last four years, I’ve been working with the JKCA, we have reached seven knockouts, which never happened before, and that experience will certainly help.”