Colombo: Sourav Ganguly has an “astute cricket brain” and is a “very suitable” candidate for the International Cricket Council (ICC) chairman’s post, feels Sri Lankan cricketing legend Kumar Sangakkara.
Ganguly, a former India captain, is currently the president of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
“I think Sourav definitely can make that change. Quite a big fan of Dada not just because of his stature as a cricketer but I think he has a very astute cricket brain,” Sangakkara, who is the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) Chairman, told India Today.
“He has the best interests of the game at heart and that should not change just because you are the BCCI president or the ECB or SLC or any other cricket board when you are at the ICC. Your mindset should be truly international and not just constrained by partisanship in terms of where I come from — am I Indian, Sri Lankan or Australia or English but really understand ‘yes I am a cricketer and what I am doing is what is best for all cricketing countries’,” said the former Sri Lanka captain who scored 12,400 runs in Test cricket and over 14,000 runs in ODIs.
“I have seen his work even before he took over as the BCCI president, even before administration and coaching, and how he has built relationships with players around the world, his standing in the MCC cricket committee,” he added.
Shashank Manohar, the former BCCI president, stepped down as ICC Chairman earlier this month.
Former South Africa captain and Cricket South Africa’s (CSA) director of cricket Graeme Smith has also backed Ganguly for the ICC role.
Ganguly recently stated that he is in no hurry to take up the ICC role.
