Domestic cricket will only happen when travelling is safe: Ganguly

Domestic cricket will only happen when travelling is safe: Ganguly

Mumbai: The Indian domestic season will only start when it is safe for young players to travel within the country for their Ranji Trophy matches, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly said.

There is huge uncertainty with regards to India’s domestic tournaments as IPL will be happening in October leading to a curtailed season due to coronavirus.

The 2020-21 domestic season would have started with Vijay Hazare in late August followed by Ranji Trophy, Duleep Trophy, and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.

Last season’s Irani Cup was canceled due to the announcement of Lockdown 1.

Asked about domestic cricket and junior cricket, Ganguly told Sports Tak, “It is necessary, but it will happen only after coronavirus. When it is safe, only then, especially junior cricket.”

Ganguly reasoned that India was a large country and teams needed to travel from one place to another for their matches and hence domestic cricket won’t start till everything is safe.

“We don’t want to expose young players. Our country is so large and our domestic cricket is so robust that everyone has to travel and play. So till the time, it is not safe, it will not happen,” clarified the BCCI boss.

Similarly, there are various tournaments for age-group cricket. India on Thursday recorded a single-day spike of 24,879 COVID-19 cases as the overall tally mounted to 7,67,296.

The death toll stood at 21,129 with 487 new fatalities, as per the Union health ministry.

Ganguly announces cancellation of Asia Cup

Ganguly announces cancellation of Asia Cup

New Delhi: BCCI president Sourav Ganguly on Wednesday announced the cancellation of the Asia Cup, which was scheduled to be held in September.

“Asia Cup cancel ho chuka hai, joh September me tha (Asia Cup, which was to be held in September, has been cancelled),” Ganguly told ‘sports tak’ in an Instagram live session.

There was no definitive word on the host country of the tournament.

With T20 World Cup in October-November also unlikely to go ahead in Australia due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Asia Cup’s cancellation allows the BCCI to have a full-fledged IPL in the same window.

Ganguly has political skills to lead ICC: David Gower

Ganguly has political skills to lead ICC: David Gower

New Delhi: Former England skipper David Gower feels Sourav Ganguly has the right “political skills” to lead the ICC one day and he has already displayed that as BCCI president, which is a “far tougher job”.

The elegant left-hander is very impressed with Ganguly’s leadership abilities and believes that he has what it takes to head the global body in the future.

“One thing I have learned over the years is that if you are going to run BCCI, you need to be many, many things. Having a reputation like he (Ganguly) has is a very good start, but you need to be a very deft politician,” he said.

Gower reckons being president of the BCCI is the toughest job imaginable in world cricket.

“And of course, you need to be responsible for a game that is followed by, I mean, should we say a billion people here in India,” he said.

“We all know about the immense following for cricket in India. So it is indeed a wonderful thing to behold. Sourav has the toughest task imaginable in charge of BCCI, but so far I would say the signs are very good. He has listened, given his own opinion, and has pulled strings gently,” he said.

Political skills are a must in administration and that’s where Gower finds his fellow left-hander ticking all the boxes.

“He is a very, very good man and has those political skills. He has the right attitude and can keep things together and will do a good job. And if you do a good job as BCCI chief in the future, who knows?” he said,

“But I would actually say the more important job, to be honest, is running BCCI. Being head of ICC is an honor, there is a lot that can be done by ICC, but actually look at the rankings, look at where the power is heading up. BCCI is definitely the bigger job,” he added.

“You need to have control of a million different things,” Gower said ahead of “Q20”, a unique chat show for the fans presented by ‘GloFans’.