BCCI President Sourav Ganguly has denied allegations of influencing the team selection calling them baseless. Reacting to the viral photo with Virat Kohli, Jay Shah and Jayesh George, the former India captain said that it wasn’t from a selection meeting.
Speaking to news agency PTI, Ganguly said, “I don’t think I need to answer anybody anything (on this) and dignify any of these baseless accusations. I am the president of BCCI and I do the job of what the president of BCCI should be doing.
“Also just to let you know, I see a picture doing the rounds (of social media) showing me sitting in a selection committee meeting.
I want to make it clear, that picture (where Ganguly can be seen sitting with secretary Jay Shah, skipper Virat Kohli and joint secretary Jayesh George) wasn’t from a selection committee meeting.”
Saying that Jayesh George was not a part of selection committee meetings, Ganguly also reminded his critics about his contribution to the Indian team as a player. “(I have played) 424 international matches for India. Not a bad idea at times to remind people about it, isn’t it? (laughs),” Ganguly added.
Ganguly and Jay Shah had come under widespread condemnation after Kohli was sacked as the captain of the One Day International team. This had prompted Kohli to hold an extraordinary press conference.
Days later, Kohli had also stepped down as the captain of the Test team after India suffered a 1-2 defeat in the series in South Africa.
Ganguly had led India to the World Cup final in South Africa in 2003. Kohli, on the other hand, was part of the team that won the cricket World Cup in 2011 in India.