Sourav Ganguly as a vice-chairman for the State Sports Council now

“The Sports Minister called me and I have accepted his offer,” Ganguly told The Indian Express. “I have to sit with him and the other members of the committee to understand my role and the areas of work,” he added.

State Sports Minister Madan Mitra assured that the committee would work independently without any political influence. “I am the only political person in the committee. Naturally, I would be outnumbered,” Mitra said tongue-in-cheek. On a serious note, he said: “The idea is to develop sports in the state with the people who have played it. They will guide us and set the roadmap. A lot needs to be done as far as sports is concerned in our state and we need specialists to do the job.”

Ganguly’s nomination, however, came as a surprise. The Trinamool Congress had raised objection about his appointment as an Election Commission icon ahead of the 2011 Assembly polls. Later Ganguly had withdrawn himself from the role. Ganguly, who was known to be close to former State Urban Development Minister Ashok Bhattacharyabe, had also recently lost the court battle for a plot of land in Salt Lake that was given to him by the Left Front government in 2008 for setting up a school.