After discussing the Indian domestic circuit for a couple of hours, with Sunil Gavaskar at the head of the table, Ganguly had an interaction with the media in which the questions weren’t about his cricketing or leadership skills, but life beyond the boundary line.

“I have stopped playing cricket six months ago. I want to be connected to cricket. Bengal has a lot of talent and I want to take care of it,” he said, when asked if he would enter the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) as a rival to its president Jagmohan Dalmiya.

“I will take it one step at a time and see where it goes,” he added, not declining to comment but not revealing much either.

‘Not this year’

Back home in Kolkata, however, his brother Snehashis said that Sourav would not enter the CAB fray, at least this year. “I don’t think he will be contesting this year. If that would have been case, it would have been known to us. But eventually he would get into cricket administration,” Snehashis told The Indian Express.

Asked if Sourav’s IPL commitment is a reason for not contesting this year, Snehashis said: “The IPL has nothing to do with it. BCCI rules don’t bar any IPL player to contest for an administrative post. Maybe the time is not opportune yet. But there’s a strong possibility that he will throw his hat in the ring next year.”

Sourav has, time and again, indicated that he is not very happy with the way Bengal cricket is being run, and questioned Dalmiya’s leadership when he publicly threw his weight behind former CAB president Prasun Mukherjee in 2006.

Dalmiya, on Wednesday, side-stepped questions on the issue. “I don’t have any idea whether they (the opposition group) will fight for any post this time. I also don’t have any clue about who could be their candidate.” The CAB elections are scheduled for later this month.

Sources in the board said that the opposition group was making significant overtures to unsettle Dalmiya, and had recently tried to persuade federal Minister of State for Tourism, Sultan Ahmed, to contest for the president’s post. Ahmed had not agreed, but had said that Sourav would be a better choice.

“Sourav is young. He would usher in fresh ideas. If somebody, who is better than Dalmiya, takes charge of Bengal cricket it would be good for the game in the state,” he had said.

‘Dravid recall a bonus’

But while Ganguly declined to give a clear answer on when he would step into the fray, he was candid when asked about his former team mate Rahul Dravid’s return to the one-day fold after his inclusion in the 30 probables for the Champions Trophy.

“Dravid is so good in all forms. His inclusion will be a bonus for India. I’m sure he will do well. It’s the right decision,” he said, adding, “but even he (Dravid) would not have expected it.”

On Dhoni’s captaincy, Ganguly said: “You can’t go through career as a captain winning everything. You will go through tough times, Dhoni has seen little bit of that now. I’m sure he will see a lot more with time.

“I don’t know how long he’ll captain India for, but he’s a smart cricketer with a good head, and he’ll be able to deal with this.”