Priority is to Have England Series in India: BCCI President Sourav Ganguly

BCCI President Sourav Ganguly said on Monday that the board will do its best to ensure that India’s home series against England remains in the country, even after the circumstances arising out of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Coronavirus cases in India have crossed 6 million, of which more than 95,000 people have died. England have to tour India for five Tests, three ODIs and three T20 Internationals between January and March next year

When asked about the option of organizing the series against England in the UAE at a press conference, he said that priority would be given to India.

“…priority is to make this (series against England) happen in India. We will try to make this happen on Indian grounds. The advantage in UAE is they have three stadiums (Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Dubai),” he said in a media interaction here addressing speculation that UAE could be the host for India given the COVID case count here.

The BCCI had recently signed a memorandum of understanding with the Emirates Cricket Board to conduct more match there.

“We also have the same facility in Mumbai — CCI, Wankhede and DY Patil. We also have Eden Gardens. We have to create a bubble. We want to hold our cricket in India, that’s where the game is, that’s where the heart is. But we are monitoring the COVID situation,” Ganguly said after being named brand ambassador of the Bengal Peerless group here.

“Everything is fluid. It’s been hard for the last six months to keep everything in order. You want your cricket to happen. You want lives to get back to normal, there are players involved. But you also want to have a close look at the COVID situation,” Ganguly added.

If things were normal then Ranji Trophy, Duleep Trophy, Under-23 Tournaments such as the CK Naidu Trophy, Vijay Hazare, Deodhar Trophy, and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy would have been held.

The BCCI held 2036 domestic matches for men and women in 2019-20 but creating a bio-bubble for so many teams across the country will be next to impossible given the virus threat.

“We are monitoring it. We want to have our domestic season. We have all the combinations, situations ready in our mind. We will try and make it happen as much as we can,” he reiterated.

When asked about the performance of former Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the Indian Premier League, he replied that this charismatic player would do well for Chennai Super Kings.

“In the current situation, it will take some time for him to get back to his old touch. He played a cricket match after about one year and six months. It’s not easy however good you are. It will take some time,” he said.

“When Dhoni was in prime form and was the captain, then I was in broadcast and had said that he should bat at number four,” he recalled.