Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Sourav Ganguly is trending on social media after his cryptic tweet sent fans into a frenzy on Wednesday.

“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,” Sourav Ganguly said on the micro-blogging platform.

“Today, I am planning to start something that I feel will probably help a lot of people. I hope you continue your support as I enter this chapter of my life,” he added.

For a long time, speculations have been rife about Sourav Ganguly's entry into politics, with several Indian newspapers reporting in the past that he was all set to join Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi‘s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

However, Sourav Ganguly had dismissed such reports in the past. He has even maintained good relations with West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and even lauded her in public.

Ganguly's rich praise of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief came days after former BJP president and Home Minister Amit Shah gave him a visit at his home in Kolkata.

According to some political pundits, Ganguly was playing a smart game, just like he did in cricket, of maintaining equidistant from both the parties in power at the centre and in the state.

Dada, as Ganguly is popularly called in Bengal, didn't want his business to suffer due to his proximity to one party and that's why he had remained non-committal about joining politics.

However, after he talked about a “new chapter of his life” in his tweet on Wednesday, Twitterati began making assumptions that Sourav Ganguly was set for an innings in politics.

While a section of social media users claimed that he was about to be nominated for Rajya Sabha, the upper house of India's parliament, others stated that he could formally join either the BJP or the TMC.

Meanwhile, a few declared that he had resigned as the president of the BCCI.

https://twitter.com/ThatOldANK/status/1531980770339737600

https://twitter.com/mbp1191/status/1532001979131920384

But all such rumours were quickly put to rest by Jay Shah, the Indian cricket's board secretary and son of Home Minister Amit Shah.

“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,” Jay Shah told news agency ANI.

Despite Jay Shah's denial that Ganguly had not resigned from his post, many cricket lovers continued to make speculations about his future.

Article Continues Below
More Cricket News
Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Natasa Stankovic, Indian Cricket Team, India,
Meme fest as Hardik Pandya-Rohit Sharma fans engage in X warPawan Atri ·
Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Natasa Stankovic, Indian Cricket Team, India,
Rohit Sharma-Hardik Pandya fans clash amid bizarre claimsPawan Atri ·
Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Natasa Stankovic, Indian Cricket Team, India,
Netizens swear at Rohit Sharma amid Hardik Pandya deceit rumorsPawan Atri ·
Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Indian Cricket Team, Team India, India,
Rohit Sharma backstabs Hardik Pandya, gets trolled on TwitterPawan Atri ·
Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Natasa Stankovic, Indian Cricket Team, India,
Rohit Sharma’s ‘shameless’ Hardik Pandya act angers fansPawan Atri ·
Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Natasa Stankovic, Indian Cricket Team, India,
Rohit Sharma’s ugly conspiracy against Hardik Pandya exposedPawan Atri ·

Some even took pot-shots at star batter Virat Kohli's fans, informing them that Ganguly had not stepped down from his post.

Last year, Kohli had indirectly accused Ganguly of lying after the Delhi-born cricketer was sacked as the skipper of the ODI team.

“To the utter disappointment of Virat Kohli fans, Sourav Ganguly has not resigned from his post as BCCI President. Everyone awaiting for Dada's next plan. Anushka Sharma fans might get one more opportunity to mourn,” a user wrote on Twitter.

“You were one of my Heros Dada! Have admired you in all the ups and downs as cricketer but as administrator, you've lost every penny of respect what you've done with Virat Kohli! Hope whatever you do, won't decrease it further!” another said.

“Relax guys, Dada is going to start a Cricket Academy and then he'll post his trademark uncle selfie,” a third said.

Coming back to Sourav Ganguly's cricket career, he's widely regarded as one of India's greatest skippers, having taken over the captaincy of the national team from Sachin Tendulkar in a difficult era.

One of cricket's ugliest sagas had just unravelled in 2000 after South Africa's Herschelle Gibbs revealed the role of both his then skipper Hansie Cronje and India's ex-captain Mohammad Azharuddinin fixing matches.

However, after Sourav Ganguly took over, India's fortunes immediately started changing as they went on to reach the final of the 2003 ODI World Cup and a historic series win on Pakistani soil.

Yet Ganguly is still best remembered for taking off his shirt after India defeated England in the 2002 NatWest tri-series final.

Ganguly retired from international cricket in 2008 with more than 18,000 runs to his name. While he made more than 7,000 runs in Tests, in the ODIs, he's among the few batsmen to reach the magical figure of 11,000.

Sourav Ganguly even featured in the Indian Premier League (IPL) but didn't taste much success.

He became a cricket administrator in the last decade and rose through the ranks to become the BCCI chief in 2019