Sandeep Sarkar, Kolkata: CAB president Sourav Ganguly, treasurer Sanjay Das visited the new secretariat building and invited him to watch the final on Sunday. To defend that invitation, state Sports Minister Indranil Khan appeared at Eden on Sunday evening to watch the Bengal T20 League final.

However, as long as he was there, the game could not start in the rain. Meanwhile, Saurabh talked to the members with the sports minister. In the conference room on the third floor of the club house, many former cricketers and CAB office bearers and members like Snehashis Gangopadhyay, Jhulan Goswami, Arun Lal, Ashok Malhotra were seen talking to Sourav along with Indranil Khan. Several members of the CAB Apex Council were also present there.

While leaving Eden, Indranil Khan said, ‘India is the home of cricket for the whole world. And Eden Gardens is a traditional cricket stadium. I came there for the final of the Bengal T20 League. But the environment is hostile. The match is being delayed due to rain. Played across West Bengal. Not only in Kolkata, but everywhere including Jhargram, Cooch Behar, Jangalmahal, there was a discussion about the spread of cricket. Kolkata Knight Riders In other parties, I was seeing the representation of West Bengalis including Bengalis decreasing. It has been discussed that the children of Bengal should also get adequate opportunities in the future.’

A few days ago, former CAB president Abhishek Dalmiya appealed to the sports minister in an open letter to make Maidan corruption-free. The next day Sourav’s CAB also sent a counter letter saying how transparent the cricket administration of the state is. With which there is a lot of confusion. It is said that where Abhishek did not take the name of any organization, why did the CAB go to clear it!

What has been discussed about them? Indranil said, ‘I came to watch the game, there was an informal discussion. These were not discussed. A team from Bengal is playing, children from Malda, Murshidabad are playing. They have talked about the spread of the game in the district in the future. I came to sit in the audience.’

He added, ‘Just as Bengalis are obsessed with football, cricket is the pride of all of us. So that the development of that cricket, so that cricketers come from all parts of West Bengal, there was a discussion. Jhulandi was There has been talk of improving women’s cricket so that women also get a chance. Jhulandi said something. Arun Lal, Sourav Gangopadhyay were there. Represented West Bengal, there were many such. They shared their experiences. There has been an exchange of views with everyone.’ The sports minister also said, ‘Just as we have kept cricket free from politics all over India, all sports including cricket will be free from politics in West Bengal. There will be games in the playground, politics will be in the place of politics.’

It is known that several proposals have been given to the sports minister like giving jobs to athletes under sports quota, arranging for the rising cricketers of the district to stay in Kolkata, and building an academy in collaboration with CAB.