Former cricketers VVS Laxman and Mohammad Azharuddin on Friday hailed Sourav Ganguly's appointment as the 39th president of the Board of Control for Cricket (BCCI) in India.
Both cricketers spoke during the felicitation ceremony of Ganguly by the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB).
Azharuddin shared a funny story as to how his popularity declined with the advent of Ganguly in Kolkata. He also said that he is confident that 'Prince of Kolkata' would lead the BCCI in a bold manner.
"With the advent of Ganguly, my popularity in Kolkata declined. I am very happy that he has become the president of BCCI. He was one of the best players that we ever had. He never said no to any type of situation. He will lead the BCCI on his terms, I am sure about it," Hyderabad Cricket Association's president Azharuddin said during the felicitation ceremony.
"He himself said he is a cricketer first. I want him to lead the BCCI in a bold manner. He has experience as an administrator and I want him to achieve a lot than he did while playing. I want him to take BCCI forward," he added.
Laxman, who was a teammate of Ganguly shared some stories from their playing days and hailed 'Dada' for taking the team ahead during his leadership stint with the side.
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"It is a great honour that one of my colleagues has become the BCCI president. It is great that cricketers are becoming administrators now. I know Sourav since 1995, both of us were selected for India A squad. Sourav the cricketer is special, but Sourav the skipper is even more special. When he took over as the skipper of India, the going was tough but he inspired the youngsters and results were there for everyone to see," Laxman said.
"Sourav the leader has been very inspirational. When he was the CAB administrator, he forgot all that he achieved during his career. He was concerned with just getting the CAB's structure to the best state. You have to admire that. He is passionate about Indian cricket. I have no doubt that Sourav will make a difference as BCCI president. I would just like to see how Sourav would revive National Cricket Academy," he added.
Ganguly was elected as the president during the General Body Meeting at the BCCI headquarters on Wednesday. Ganguly was the only candidate to file his nomination for the post and was elected unopposed.
The 47-year-old Ganguly was also a part of the selection meeting on Thursday and he held talks with Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to pick the squad for the upcoming T20I and Test series against Bangladesh.
He had led India to 21 Test wins and the final of the 2003 World Cup and he has already been an administrator for the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB).
The southpaw also served in BCCI's technical committee and was also a member of the Cricket Advisory Committee along with Indian greats Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman.
Ganguly called time on his international career in 2008 and he ended up with more than 18,000 international runs.