When Roger Binny opens his mouth, everyone listens: Ravi Shastri expresses his delight as Binny emerges as contender to be Indian Cricket Board’s President
Roger Binny, the man who played an integral part in India’s 1983 World Cup win. is all set to get into the hot seat as he is reported to take on the role of the president of the Indian Cricket Board when the AGM takes place on October 18. Binny will replace Sourav Ganguly for the position as the former will no longer hold any post in the Indian Cricket Board. According to reports, Ganguly has declined to take on the post of chairman in the Indian T20 League.
Former India coach Ravi Shastri was delighted with the development as he said that The Indian Cricket Board is in the hands of an amazing person. He added that Indian Cricket will flourish under his leadership. Binny has scored 830 runs and picked up 47 wickets in 27 test matches for India.
“I’m delighted because he was my colleague in the World Cup. There’s continuity there because he was the president of the Karnataka State Cricket Association. So, he moves on to become the president of the BCCI. And I’m extremely happy because he’s a World Cup winner, who’s the president for the first time in the history of the BCCI. His credentials are unquestionable. He’s got all the boxes ticked to take up this post,” Shastri told Ayaz Memon at a ‘Meet-the-media programme’ at the Mumbai Press Club.
Shastri said that Binny’s first order of business will be to make the game of cricket more accessible to the spectators, which will give more bandwidth to the sport in India.
“Binny is a very amiable guy, he has got a mind of his own. He might not be a flippant type, but when he opens his mouth, I’m sure that he will be heard, especially on cricketing matters. One area that he would look into and Indian cricket must look into is the fact that you have to make Indian cricket a spectator-friendly sport, so for me, the most important thing is that the facilities at the ground should be upgraded big time. It should be insisted upon, with the kind of bucks coming into the sport, the kind of people who come into the ground, they’ve got to get the best facilities. If that happens, the popularity of the sport will soar even further” Shastri added.
