Indian cricket board president Sharad Pawar Friday disapproved of raising in Parliament the issue of former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly's exclusion from the Indian team saying it would cause "irrepairable damage" to the game and cricketers.
"If people start using Parliament' to say who should be in the Indian cricket team, it would cause irreparable damage to cricket and cricketers," he told reporters at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai after a function organised by the Mumbai Cricket Association to felicitate him on becoming chief of the Board of Control for Cricket in India.
"Some Members of Parliament raised the issue of Sourav Ganguly's exclusion from the Indian team from the Ahmedabad Test," Pawar said. "I can understand that it is an emotional issue. If a great contributor to the game goes out with respect, people won't be hurt," he said.
Earlier in the day, responding to Samajwadi Party MP Mohan Singh, Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee said he would allow a discussion in the House on Ganguly's exclusion.
"There is no point discussing the selection process on a public platform," Pawar said adding "It is my clear stand that politicians should stay away from the selection process".
"Normally, one does not disturb a winning team. But the selectors may have had their own strategy (in leaving out Ganguly)," he said. "I have instructed the chairman of the selection committee (Kiran More) to tell me during the Ahmedabad Test on what basis they had selected the team", the BCCI chief added.
"I feel politics should be kept out of cricket. Selecting the team is a job best left to the experts. If they commit any mistakes, they will correct the same whenever necessary," Pawar said.
In an apparent reference to protests in Kolkata against Ganguly's sacking from the Indian team, Pawar said "If people from state to state start telling who should be in the team, it would cause irreparable damage to the game".
Pawar said as far as his BCCI tenure was concerned, he would like to be known as an able administrator of cricket. "I do not know the technicalities of cricket. I also do not know the names of all the 15 members of the Indian team," Pawar said. "People have been writing that Ganguly's game is over. Let me tell you, there is no truth in this," he said.
"This is an emotional issue. People of Karnataka will root for Rahul Dravid, those in Mumbai for Sachin Tendulkar. Similarly, people in Kolkata and West Bengal support Ganguly," Pawar said. Pawar said the selection of the selection committee was unanimous. "After becoming BCCI chief on November 29, I have not met a single selector till date," Pawar said.
"Our job is to implement whatever decision these experts take. Sometimes, there is a feeling that injustice has been done. But for that, if people from state to state start dictating who should be in the team, then cricket will suffer," Pawar said. "It is like this. People know that Pawar has won 15 to 16 elections without a loss. So, when he loses, they are shocked. The same applies in the case of Ganguly, who has contributed greatly to Indian cricket," he said.
