Sourav Ganguly, the leader, captain of bad times, and hero to many Indian cricketers was crowned as the BCCI President to be a "Cricketer's administrator" in 2019. Three years passed, and although the "Dada" of Indian cricket wished to be on the BCCI President's chair, he will not. Former BCCI and ICC Head N Srinivasan have already stated Ganguly's tenure as a "failure". But, we wanted to discuss everything that happened during the Ganguly-Shah era and give you a chance to rate his performance as the head of the BCCI.

Firstly, although, there seems to be a huge political influence in BCCI elections, we will be overlooking that and focus on the things Sourav Ganguly did and did not do as the Chief of BCCI.

Dream11 vs My11 Circle and conflict of interests

Sourav Ganguly was the first-ever cricketer administrator in Indian Cricket and that led him to gain more popularity as the face of Indian Cricket. In fact, he was the first BCCI Head to be seen on hoardings and advertisements of many products and businesses. Though, there were always questions asked about Ganguly's "conflict of interest", he handled those questions with composure.

But, everything crossed the line when the then BCCI President was seen in advertisements for a fantasy gaming app named "My11 Circle" which was a lead competitor to then India's main sponsor Dream11. Since he claimed to have never endorsed the platform, there was no "conflict of interest" as the President of BCCI.

As per Bhavin Pandya, co-founder and CEO of My11 Circle, "he is co-creating the platform here," which meant the former Indian captain was only a player on that app just like other users.

But many raised questions about his ever-growing brand promotions as the BCCI Head and that even allowed players like Virat Kohli to endorse questionable financial brands. Even in 2020, the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court sent notices to Sourav Ganguly and Virat Kohli after a lawyer had made a complaint against them regarding these promotions.

IPL in COVID: 2019 a success, 2020 with many loopholes

Even in his recent interview, Sourav Ganguly stated that the IPL in Covid was one the brightest moments in his tenure as BCCI head. Yes, given the tough times, restrictions and the fear of getting contaminated, team Ganguly and Shah pulled off a great Indian Premier League in 2019 in UAE.

However, the lack of control over the bio-bubble showed how fragile was Ganguly's BCCI in conducting the home season IPL in 2022. People started breaking the bubble regulations and soon IPL 2020 was postponed indefinitely before it was started again. So, a plus and minus for Ganguly here.

Domestic Cricket: A promise never fully fulfilled

After Sourav Ganguly chaired the BCCI Office, everyone was promised that the wealthiest and richest cricket board in the world would take care of its domestic cricket and players. However, the promise never got fulfilled as even payments of domestic players were not cleared on time as well. Although, it was claimed that those delays were from the state association's end. Players received postponed instalments which were not expected from the biggest association in the cricketing world.

Even with BCCI increasing the match fees for domestic players in the 2021-22 season, the domestic cricket structure did not see any significant changes. The IPL was always the centre of attraction for BCCI and its team.

BCCI: The corporate association

Sourav was always termed as the player's leader. He was always the compassionate one with and for his players. But, that was not visible in the BCCI President when the news of Veda Krishnamurthy broke out in the news.

Veda, the Indian Women's cricketer had lost her mother in Covid and was also sacked from the BCCI Contract in 2021. The reports said, Veda was not even contacted by BCCI and its officials in her tough times and was not even communicated about her removal from the upcoming England tour.

Former Australian Women's captain Lisa was vocal about this incident via her Twitter post.

There is still time to fix this!! pic.twitter.com/LT3hApMioJ

— Lisa Sthalekar (@sthalekar93) May 15, 2021

Not only that Ganguly led BCCI was ignorant of WV Raman's plea against the smear campaign that was going against him. Even Raman had stated that the smear campaign against him was favoured by some BCCI executives as well.

The KOHLI Saga

The Ganguly era in BCCI hit its lowest when the Kohli saga happened. The then-Indian captain Virat Kohli's removal from the T20I captaincy was poorly handled by BCCI. Things even got worse when both Kohli and Ganguly made conflicting public statements regarding the T20I captaincy.

With everything happening just one month before the T20 World Cup, it was an embarrassing moment for BCCI. Even the Kohli fans did not hold themselves to taking on Sourav Ganguly via their social media posts. It was quite evident that Ganguly and his team failed miserably to handle the Kohli saga.

Selection influence and Wriddhiman Saha

In the BCCI constitution, it is stated that no BCCI executive and members can influence or control any selection of an Indian team. But from many reports it was seen that Sourav Ganguly the President was quite active in the selection process; maybe indirectly but was active. Although the former Indian captain always laughed and cleared out all of those rumours.

But, everything fall out of place for him when Indian wicket-keeper batter Wriddhiman Saha stated that he was promised a place in the team as long as Sourav Ganguly was there in the BCCI.

Read Also: Top 10 Unluckiest Indian cricketers who could have been successful in a different era

Even when everyone in BCCI was rooting for a permanent ban on Boria Majumder for his threatening messages to Saha, only got a two-year ban; which some thought was because of Ganguly's backing. Although the decision was made by a three-member panel comprising BCCI vice-president Rajiv Shukla, treasurer Arun Singh Dhumal and apex council member Prabhtej Singh Bhatia. 

Read Also: Wriddhiman Saha: BCCI will do a "thorough investigation" of Saha's tweet and everything he said

Business and BCCI: Sourav Ganguly era

The biggest positive of the Sourav Ganguly era is the amount of business BCCI was able to attract. Only the IPL rights made sure BCCI now has a brand value of a hooping ₹48,390 cr. for the next 5-year cycle which is nearly 6-fold than its previous 10-year period.

With the Ganguly era coming to end, the new BCCI team will surely reap from the amount of money and business Sourav Ganguly led BCCI was able to attract.

Now with his chances of being the IPL Chairman looking far-fetched, Sourav Ganguly can surely be back at his home as the President of the Cricket Association of Bengal. The Ganguly fans will surely be waiting for a comeback from the "God of off-side" as he stated he is going to do much bigger things in future. 

Indian cricket team head coach Gautam Gambhir has suddenly returned to India, citing a family emergency as the reason. A BCCI source has given this information to news agency PTI.

The source said that Gambhir had to return to take care of his mother, who has been admitted to a hospital in New Delhi due to health complications. The Shubman Gill-led Indian Test team is in England to play a five-match IND vs ENG series, starting June 20 in Leeds.

Also Read: Exclusive: Advised by Sourav Ganguly, Abishek Porel gets coached by Yuvraj Singh; this is what he learned

Doeschate will look after the team for now

In Gambhir's absence, assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate will oversee the team during the four-day intra-squad match between India and India A starting from Friday. He will be assisted by other coaching staff like bowling coach Morne Morkel and batting coach Shitanshu Kotak. If all goes well at home, Gambhir is expected to return to England within a week.

Indian team would like to test its preparations

The Indian team will play intra-squad matches to finalise its preparations ahead of the IND vs ENG five-match Test series. India A played two unofficial Test matches against England Lions and the batsmen showed their prowess in them. Such matches are important for the preparation of the team before any series. India has opted to play this match in an empty stadium so that the opposing team does not get a clue of their strategy.

All eyes will be on Kuldeep-Jadeja

In this match, the performance of Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja will be watched and an interesting competition is expected between these two to make a place in the final eleven of the Indian Test team.

India's bowling coach Morne Morkel had said on Wednesday that the match is crucial for India's preparation as it is difficult to develop the ability to bowl and field 90 overs in a day through normal practice sessions. This match will give the Indian team management a good opportunity to assess its players, especially the bowlers, in match situations.

Also Read: Ellyse Perry predicts the winner of WTC 2025

This will help ensure that the bowlers, be it spinners or pacers, are in the required rhythm in the actual match. Gambhir will have to do some brainstorming to pick the only specialist spinner for Headingley.

Jadeja has a good batting record abroad but if India has to take 20 wickets then Kuldeep's role will become important. Kuldeep can prove to be a good partner of fast bowler Jaspreet Bumrah in the conditions here. Jadeja vs Kuldeep is the biggest puzzle for the playing XI that the team management will have to solve.

Eyes will be on fast bowlers as well

Similarly, this match will give the team management and captain Shubman Gill a chance to see which ball works better in these conditions - Akash Deep's full length or Prasidh Krishna's back of the length. Bumrah, who will be playing a red ball match after six months, will get a chance to bowl multiple spells and test his fitness. He has played only IPL since returning from a lower back injury.

Abishek Porel, the Bengal and Delhi Capitals wicket-keeper, had a decent IPL 2025 with the bat in hand. Just like the 2024 season, he was trusted to bat at the top of the order alongside some of the biggest names in world cricket.

But the season did not turn out the way he would have liked. On most occasions, he got out after getting the start. 

Porel averaged only 25.08, a drop from the 2024 season's 32.70. The main reason for that was him getting out on 30-40 after getting a decent start for his team, Delhi Capitals. And, he knows it hurt his own performance and the team as well. 

That is why Sourav Ganguly wanted the youngster to visit Yuvraj Singh and get some valuable learnings ahead of the Bengal Pro T20 League 2025. 

It was Sourav Ganguly who gave the Bengal wicket-keeper a chance to replace Rishabh Pant in IPL 2023. Porel did his part so well as an impact sub that he went on to play all 14 games for Delhi Capitals next season. Not only that, he was also retained by the franchise ahead of the mega auction.

Yuvraj Singh, one of the greatest white-ball cricketers of Indian cricket, is known for his performances in the 2011 ICC World Cup, where he emerged as the Player of the tournament, despite going through cancer. Not only that, his six sixes in an over in India's victories in the 2007 T20 World Cup are one of the most iconic moments in Indian cricket's history.

Read Also | India's 2011 World Cup winning squad: Where are they now?

After retiring from international cricket, Yuvraj Singh chose not to pursue a career in commentary. Instead, he decided to help young batters excel at the international level. He began working personally with Punjab cricketers such as Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma, Prabhsimran Singh, Ramandeep Singh, and several others.

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All of these Punjab batters did exceedingly well after getting trained by Yuvraj. Shubman Gill's career graph went up as he became Indian's latest test captain. Meantime, Abhishek Sharma went on to debut for India T20I format.

After a decent season where Porel feels he could have been better, a session with Yuvraj Singh is what he needed to get everything sorted. The youngster thus went for a camp held by Yuvraj Singh in Delhi, where players like Abhishek Sharma, Abdul Samad, and Prabhsimran Singh were also there.

"Sourav (Ganguly) sir wanted me to visit Yuvraj Singh to learn from one of the greatest batters of Indian cricket. It was all about getting to know how to be ready for the international stage," Porel told Sportz Point in an exclusive interview. 

"We worked on a few basic things, and you know if you stay around a man like Yuvraj Singh, you will get to learn more. I will visit the camp again and will learn more things from him," Porel added. 

Abishek is leading the Lux Shyam Kolkata Tigers in the Bengal Pro T20 League 2025. In his state's own league, Porel now wants to rectify all of those mistakes he made in IPL 2025 and work on some individual things while leading the team to success. 

"I would love to get through that 30-40 runs zone and score more runs to help the team. That is the goal. Even Sourav (Ganguly) sir also told me that 30-40s are not enough, and I need to score more and look for hundreds," Porel shared. 

Till now, 11 Indian cricketers have been inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame. Former Indian captain and legend MS Dhoni became the latest Indian to be inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame list. 

Read Also | India's 2011 World Cup winning squad: Where are they now?

Along with MS Dhoni, Aussie great Matthew Hayden, South African legend Hashim Amla, former South African captain Graeme Smith, former Kiwi leader Daniel Vettori, and former Pakistan captain Sana Mir and English legend Sarah Taylor were also inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame 2025.

Unorthodox, unconventional and effective 🙌

A cricketer beyond numbers and statistics 👏

MS Dhoni is inducted in the ICC Hall of Fame 🥇

More ➡️ https://t.co/oV8mFaBfze pic.twitter.com/AGRzL0aP79

— ICC (@ICC) June 9, 2025

Here are the Indian cricketers who have been inducted into the prestigious "ICC Hall of Fame". 

Indian Cricketers in the ICC Hall of Fame

The England and Wales Cricket Board on Thursday announced a 14-member squad for the first Test of the five-match series against India. The ENG vs IND five-match Test series is starting from June 20. The first match will be played at Headingley on June 20, 2025.

Also Read: Youngest Cricketers to lead India in Tests

Overton replaces Atkinson

Fast bowling all-rounder Jamie Overton has returned. He has been included in the team in place of injured Gus Atkinson. Jamie has returned after the match against New Zealand in June 2022.

Atkinson was unavailable for selection due to a right hamstring injury suffered during the Test against Zimbabwe at Trent Bridge.

Carse, Woakes included in the squad

Fast bowlers Brydon Carse, Jacob Bethell and Chris Woakes have also been named in the squad, who last played during the New Zealand Test tour in December. The India A side are already in the United Kingdom, playing warm-up games against England Lions.

Woakes, known for his effectiveness in home conditions, especially at Lord’s, last featured prominently in 2018 against India, where he claimed four wickets and smashed an unbeaten 137.

Young spinner Shoaib Bashir, who starred with nine wickets against Zimbabwe, retains his spot as the lone specialist spinner. IPL winner Jacob Bethell and seamer Sam Cook, both of whom impressed recently, have also earned call-ups.

Ben Stokes to lead the team

England will field a significantly altered team compared to the last time they faced India in early 2024. James Anderson has since retired, while Jonny Bairstow, Ben Foakes and Ollie Robinson are the other notable absentees from the squad.

Ben Stokes, who returned from a hamstring injury in that Zimbabwe Test, will lead England against India in a five-match series that marks the start of both teams’ campaigns in the new ICC World Test Championship cycle.

Also Read: Most runs vs England in England for India in tests

ENG vs IND Test Series Schedule

• 20-24 June 2025 - 1st Test, Headingley
• 2-6 July 2025 - 2nd Test, Edgbaston
• 10-14 July 2025 - Third Test, Lord's
• 23-27 July 2025 - Fourth Test, Emirates Old Trafford
• 31 July-4 August 2025 - Fifth Test, Kia Oval

ENG vs IND | England full squad

Ben Stokes (c), Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Sam Cook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Jamie Overton, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jamie Smith (wk), Josh Tongue, Chris Woakes.

India A started their England tour on a great note with a solid Day 1 display against the England Lions in Canterbury. Karun Nair headlined the day with a solid, unbeaten 186 with the bat for India A.

England Lions captain James Rew won the toss and decided to bowl first on a greenish pitch at the St. Lawrence Ground. 

India A lost captain Abhimanyu Easwaran early on 8 while Yashasvi Jaiswal went back to the dressing room after adding 24. 

When it looked like that, Rew took the right decision of bowling first, Sarfaraz Khan and Karun Nair put up a 181-run partnership for the third wicket to give India A the advantage after Day 1’s play. 

Karun Nair, who last played a test match in 2017, continued his great form and completed his fifty in 85 balls. 

Soon, Sarfraz Khan, who was dropped from the test squad, completed his fifty in 84 balls as well. When both batters were looking to get to the hundred mark first, Sarfraz was caught down the leg side on 92 off 119 balls and missed his ton.

Sarfaraz Khan gets dismissed 8 short of a well-deserved hundred.

Sarfaraz was looking good but was eventually caught down the leg side on 92.

Karun Nair is batting on 97!

India A 233/3 in the first inning!#ENGAvINDA #SarfarazKhan pic.twitter.com/pY7pCRmwZP

— Sportz Point (@sportz_point) May 30, 2025

Nair, who was dropped on 89 off Ajeet Singh Dale, completed his 24th first-class ton off 155 balls.

Post that, incoming batter Dhruv Jurel and Nair started smashing the bowlers and changed their gears. Nair reached the landmark of 150 in 205 balls while Jurel reached his fifty in just 68 balls.

At the end of Day 1 of the 4-day unofficial test match, Jurel remained unbeaten on 82 off 104 balls while Nair remained unbeaten on 186 from 246 balls, with India A finishing with 409/3.