The long-running tension between former Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) president Abhishek Dalmiya and the current administration led by Sourav Ganguly came out into the open on Wednesday. Just three months before its annual general meeting (AGM), top officials of the state cricket body have vehemently rejected allegations of corruption and lapses in functioning.

In a three-page letter to West Bengal Sports Minister Dr Indranil Khan, CAB rejected the ‘general apprehensions’ raised about corruption, lack of transparency and ‘systematic breakdown’. The letter was written four days after Abhishek had contacted the state government’s ‘Sports Integrity and Anti-Corruption Helpline’ to investigate complaints of irregularities.

The CAB letter, signed by Ganguly, secretary Bablu Kole and other office-bearers, defended the functioning of the body, and questioned Abhishek’s decision to make the matter public rather than adopting existing institutional practices.

Also read- Team India got a big shock during the T20 World Cup, the player went out on a stretcher; BCCI gave update

Ganguly’s administrative and cricket-related experiences were also mentioned in the letter. It noted that he had served as India captain, CAB president, President of the Indian Cricket Board and Chairman of the ICC Cricket Committee, and yet ‘his integrity has never been impugned’.

CAB argued that Abhishek was fully aware of the process during his tenure as secretary and president, yet he ‘ignored’ it.

This development is important because it has happened before the AGM to be held in September.

It was expected that Abhishek would challenge the Ganguly group in last year’s AGM, but he backed out at the last moment. This paved the way for Snehasish Ganguly to be elected unopposed after reconciliation between the rival groups. Responding to Abhishek’s concerns, CAB said that the allegations of corruption and shortcomings in functioning do not reflect the reality of the organization.

The letter said that the apprehensions raised about ‘corruption, irregularities in the system, honesty in selection’ and lack of transparency do not accurately reflect the functioning of CAB. The organization said that in the last three decades, during the time of BN Dutt, Jagmohan Dalmiya, Sourav Ganguly and Abhishek Dalmiya himself, ‘this organization was never accused of such irregularities in the system.

“It is therefore surprising that from recent conversations it appears that there have been irregularities during all the administrators except his tenure,” the letter said.

“To say that everything was going well only during a particular tenure, and there were shortcomings during the rest, is not correct,” he said.

The Sangh went a step further and said, “To portray mistakes as common or to make up the majority of people is a gross misrepresentation of the facts, and an insult to their genuine efforts and intentions.” No former president or secretary of CAB has ever issued any such public letter, and this is a matter of great surprise for all the people of the union.

A key point of CAB’s defense was the provision of an independent ombudsman and ethics officer under the Supreme Court-approved Lodha reforms.

The union said former Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court Jyotirmoy Bhattacharya is acting as CAB’s ombudsman and ethics officer, and all stakeholders can approach him with complaints along with evidence.

Out or not out? There was an uproar over Vaibhav Suryavanshi’s catch; You will get all the answers by watching the video