Former captain Sourav Ganguly was elected as president of India’s troubled cricket board, the sport’s most powerful body.
Cricket’s massive popularity in India has helped the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) become by far the wealthiest of all of the sport’s national boards, netting massive money from sponsorship and TV deals.
But it has also been embroiled in a series of scandals, including accusations of corruption and match-fixing that tarnished the Indian Premier League (IPL) — the country’s lucrative T20 competition.
Ganguly, 47, the only nominee to the post, was appointed as the 39th chief of the BCCI at a meeting in Mumbai.
“It’s official – @SGanguly99 formally elected as the President of BCCI,” the board posted on Twitter.
It’s official – @SGanguly99 formally elected as the President of BCCI pic.twitter.com/Ln1VkCTyIW
— BCCI (@BCCI) October 23, 2019
His appointment ends more than two years of a Supreme Court appointed committee overseeing the board’s affairs.
One of the most successful national captains in the sport, Ganguly has promised to clean up the mess after he filed his nomination to the post last week.
The left-handed opener retired from Test cricket in 2008 having accumulated 7,212 runs including 16 centuries his first made at Lord’s on debut.
