Kolkata: Having backtracked from his earlier decision to contest for the post of President of Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) and instead nominating his elder brother Snehasis Ganguly for the chair, ex-BCCI chief Sourav Ganguly now seems to be drawing a fine balance between two arch-rivals of Kolkata Maidan — ATK Mohun Bagan and East Bengal.
Known primarily for their age-old rivalry on the football ground, these two rival clubs also have their cricket teams and hence can play a crucial role in the CAB, the AGM for which is scheduled on October 31.
On Sunday, Ganguly announced his decision to not contest for the CAB President’s post and instead nominated his elder brother Snehasish Ganguly, who had represented Bengal in the Ranji Trophy and is currently the Secretary in the outgoing board.
Soon after announcing his decision, the former India captain, accompanied by his brother, visited the East Bengal club and interacted with the officials there.
There are rumours that the visit was aimed at settling differences with East Bengal authorities for the latter’s discontent over the panel of office-bearers who are all set to be elected uncontested.
However, sensing that this might offend East Bengal’s arch-rivals Mohun Bagan, where Ganguly is slated to come back as a director as per his own announcement, he made a visit to the ATK’s tent on Tuesday and had a detailed interaction with senior officials Debasish Dutta and Swapan Banerjee.
In his own words, Ganguly thanked the Mohun Bagan office-bearers for whole-heartedly supporting the panel.
The question that arises now is why is Ganguly trying to strike a fine balance between the two arch-rivals even when his preferred panel is slated to be elected unopposed with Snehasish Ganguly as CAB President?
Kolkata Maidan veterans feel that after ensuring the smooth selection of the panel of his choice, Ganguly now wants the same panel to perform smoothly without obstacles and for that the confidence of both East Bengal and Mohun Bagan is necessary.
–IANS