Former Indian cricketer and BCCI president Sourav Ganguly made headlines on June 1 after posting a tweet. Ganguly wrote that he was starting 'something to help people'. Many were quick to interpret his tweet as a resignation from the post of BCCI president and his plans to join politics. This comes after Ganguly hosted Union Home Minister Amit Shah for dinner at his residence in Kolkata. But Ganguly ended the "chapter" speculation, stating to news agency ANI that he has "launched a worldwide educational app".
The cricketing legend wrote: "2022 marks the 30th year since the start of my journey with cricket in 1992. Since then, Cricket has given me a lot. Most importantly, it has given me the support of all of you. I want to thank every single person who has been a part of the journey, supported me, and helped me reach where I am today."
The tweet quickly triggered speculations from all sides where many were quick to create the rumour that the 49-year-old was about to resign as the BCCI president. But BCCI secretary Jay Shah later dismissed such rumours, confirming that Ganguly was not stepping down from his post.
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Speaking to ANI, Shah stated, "The rumours doing rounds about Mr Sourav Ganguly stepping down from the post of BCCI President are factually incorrect. We have some exciting times in the form of media rights coming up and my colleagues and I are completely focused on the upcoming opportunity and safeguarding the interest of Indian cricket."
Ganguly's proximity with politicians like Amit Shah, Amit Malviya and Swapan Dasgupta was one reason that the rumour mill went abuzz. In fact, Trinamool Congress leaders were miffed with Ganguly's dinner meeting with the BJP big guns. Later, Ganguly mentioned how he is close to Bengal chief minister and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee.
He further dismissed rumours about him joining the BJP, saying "Speculation is rife... but I have known him (Amit Shah) since 2008. While playing, I used to meet him. There's nothing more than that."
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The former cricketer later clarified the rumours regarding his misinterpreted tweet, saying that it was about his new business venture. He was "surprised" to see how his "simple tweet" triggered speculations around his resignation from the current post of BCCI president. "I have launched a new education app worldwide. It's an educational app launched worldwide. "I was surprised (with the speculations). It was a simple tweet, there is no mention of resignation, nothing," he said.
Sourav Ganguly has been serving as the BCCI President since 2019. As a cricketer, he scored more than 18,000 international runs for India before retiring in 2008. He is widely regarded as one of the best captains to lead Team India, where the team also reached the final of the 2003 ICC Cricket World Cup under his leadership.