By VoN Sports Team

Sourav Ganguly is history, finally. ‘Dada’ failed to weather the raging BJP-TMC battle and threw his hands up. He has steadfastly refused to join either party, and his BCCI president’s post was the sacrifice for it. Roger Binny, a member of the 1983 World Cup winning squad, was put in the hot seat instead. Binny will be now secretary Jay Shah’s spokesperson, Man Friday, and generally everything else that Shah wants him to do.

Al this happened on October 18, when the ‘elections’ to the board were supposed to be held. The election, of course, was a farce, with no contestants and all unanimous decisions. The top cricketing body of the country and the richest in the world with a net worth of around $ 2 billion remains a joke of an administration.

Shah, of course, has bagged another term in the office as the secretary of the BCCI.

Binny’s (67)  appointment was announced at the BCCI Annual General Meeting in Mumbai. Binny, was the only candidate to have filed top post of the board. The other BCCI office bearers, who were elected unopposed include the secretary, Union Home Minister’s son Jay Shah, BJP’s Mumbai chief Ashish Shelar (treasurer), Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Shukla (vice-president) and Ranji Trophy player Devajit Saikia (joint secretary).

Outgoing treasurer Arun Dhumal will be the new Indian Premier League chairman.

Binny, who played 27 Tests and 72 ODIs for India, takes charge ahead of the ODI World Cup in India next year.

Roger Michael Humphrey Binny was the first Anglo- Indian of Scottish origin to play cricket for India. Best known for his lethal bowling, Binny was the 1983 World Cup’s highest wicket-taker (18 wickets) which is also one of the reasons India managed to emerge victorious in the tournament. He replicated the magical performance in the 1985 World Series Cricket Championship in Australia (17 wickets).

On a day when BCCI appointed Roger Binny as their new chief, they also made it clear that they will back the current International Cricket Council (ICC) chairman Greg Barclay to retain the post and the Indian board will not be endorsing Sourav Ganguly’s name for the same.

After his retirement as a cricketer, Binny, a 1983 World Cup winner, first forayed into coaching when he was in charge of the India Under-19s. In 2000, he coached the Mohammad Kaif-led team to the Under-19 World Cup win in Sri Lanka. Two years later, he went into the grassroots to coach the Under-16s and played a key role in the emergence of young players such as Ambati Rayudu, Robin Uthappa and Irfan Pathan.

Outside of administration, Binny has also been a national selector between 2012 and 2016. In 2014, he had a conflict-of-interest cloud hovering over him when his son Stuart Binny was spoken of as a potential all-round option for the national team. Selectors at the time credit Binny for not making things awkward as he would recuse himself whenever Stuart’s name was up for selection.

ORS icon Dr Dilip Mahalanabis dies in Kolkata
Renowned physician Dr Dilip Mahalanabis, credited with pioneering the oral rehydration therapy, died at a private hospital here, on Sunday, sources said. Mahalanabis, 87, was suffering from lung infection and other old-age ailments, the hospital said.

He had hit the headlines during the Liberation War in Bangladesh in 1971, when the doctor saved thousands of lives with the Oral Rehydration Solution during an outbreak of cholera while serving in a refugee camp at Bangaon in West Bengal. Oral rehydration therapy is a solution used to prevent and treat dehydration.

Dilip Mahalanabis has been globally recognised for his extraordinary work. Several international organisations, including the World Health Organisation, have also recognised his work, which has spanned several years. However, he never took out a patent for his invention of Oral Rehydration Solution (ORS), which resulted in the saving of countless lives.

In 1990, he was also posted as a clinical research officer at the famous ICDDRB in Dhaka, a position he performed efficiently for several years, Bangladesh Live News reported, citing the Bengali Tribune newspaper.
Expressing grief at his passing away, the Director of the Institute of Child Health, Dr Apurba Ghosh said Mahalanabis was a pioneer in the treatment of cholera and enteric diseases through low-cost methods. “His contributions will forever be remembered,” Ghosh said.

Qatar to host AFC Asian Cup 2023
The 2023 Asian Cup football tournament will be held in Qatar, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has announced after China withdrew earlier this year because of its “zero-COVID” policy. The Asian Cup is held every four years. Qatar won the tournament’s last edition, which was hosted by the United Arab Emirates in 2019.

This is the third time Qatar will be hosting the tournament, having staged it in 1988 and 2011.

In June 2019, China was named host for the 2023 event but it withdrew in May this year, leaving the AFC scrambling to find a new host for its flagship men’s 24-team football tournament.

South Korea and Indonesia were the two other countries in the running after China’s withdrawal, but Qatar got the nod on Monday. Qatar will be hosting the 2022 World Cup, which kicks off on November 20.

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