Can't remain administrator forever: Sourav Ganguly
Kolkata, Oct 13: Amid the chatter around his imminent departure from the BCCI, board president Sourav Ganguly on Thursday said he "can't be an administrator forever".
The former India captain is set to be replaced as board president by 1983 World Cup winning-team member Roger Binny in the apex body's upcoming AGM (Annual general Meeting).
"You can't play forever. You can't be an administrator forever, but it's been fun doing both and seeing both sides of the coin. I will go for bigger things in future," Ganguly said on the sidelines of an event related to Bandhan bank.
"I was a cricketer's administrator. Yes you had to make decisions because there's so much cricket happening, there's so much money around. There's women's cricket, there's domestic cricket. Yes you had to take calls at times as an individual," he added.
Ganguly was keen to continue as the BCCI chief, but things did not pan out that way, even as Jay Shah is set to continue as the secretary.
Ganguly first got into cricket administration as a secretary under Jagmohan Dalmiya at the Cricket Association of bengal (CAB), before heading the state body after the veteran's death in September 2015.
Speaking of achieving success, the former skipper cited the example of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"Life, achievements and progresses are about small goals, you don't become a Sachin Tendulkar, or an Ambani or Narendra Modi in one day.
"You have to spend your life, time, days, weeks, months working towards it. that's the key to success. If you decide that this is my job, this is my life, give everything you have for the rest of your life to be the best."
Ganguly also spoke about the high points of his tenure as BCCI president.
"I think I thoroughly loved it. If you see the last three years, so many good things have happened. IPL during COVID, such difficult times for all of us in the country. We didn't know how to deal with it. The broadcast rights which went to an all time high.
"The Under-19 winning the World Cup. I wish the women won the Commonwealth Games gold, they were in a position to beat Australia. Senior team winning in Australia. Those were great moments as an administrator. But they returned with a silver which was still first.
"I hope they do well in Australia because it's a tremendous cricket team. There's so much talent, so much power, class in the side," he said, wishing Team India luck for the upcoming T20 World Cup.
"You expect them to win all the time. But the challenge of being a player was completely different. So you can't compare both."
Ganguly said the challenges as a cricketer were more than being an administrator.
"I did eight years' of administration. I was president of the Cricket Association of Bengal, then became president of the BCCI, all these have tenures and you have to go after finishing it.
"But I feel the challenge as a cricketer was a lot more. When you do backroom work, sitting on tables and running the game, you have time to correct things.
"But if you nicked a delivery from Glenn McGrath on the first morning of a Test, you are out, you didn't have the time to correct it -- I think that's the major difference.
"But when you do administration you realise that you contribute so much, you could make things better for a cricketer and me being a player who played for a long period of time, I understood that," he signed off.
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AIITA welcomes Karnataka’s ban on obscene songs in school events
Bhatkal: The Karnataka unit of the All India Ideal Teachers Association (AIITA) has welcomed the Karnataka government’s decision to strictly ban school children from dancing to obscene songs during educational and cultural programmes in government, aided, and private schools across the state.
AIITA Karnataka State President M. R. Manvi congratulated the government for taking what he termed an important step to preserve the sanctity of education.
“Such decisions to safeguard the dignity of school children and uphold the values of education are the need of the hour. This rule should not be limited to government schools alone but must be strictly implemented in all private educational institutions as well,” he said.
He further urged the government to address other concerns within school programmes.
“The government should not only prohibit obscene dances in the name of school anniversaries, but also ensure that plays and dialogues that incite religious hatred are avoided. Schools should be centres of harmony, not platforms for spreading hatred,” he added.
According to a recent circular issued by the Department of School Education and Literacy, obscene dances are adversely affecting the mental health and moral values of students.
In this regard, schools have been advised to use songs that promote nationalism, positive thinking, the greatness of Kannada culture, and value-based traditions instead of inappropriate content during programmes.
The circular also emphasises that students should be dressed in decent attire.
AIITA also backed the department’s warning that disciplinary action would be taken against head teachers if such guidelines are violated. The association has further demanded that district Deputy Directors of Public Instruction strictly monitor the implementation of these rules.
