IPL 2017 auction: Sourav Ganguly refrains from attending event despite eligibility as GC member

New Delhi: Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) president Sourav Ganguly along with Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) joint Secretary PV Shetty are the two erstwhile Indian Premier League (IPL) governing council members deemed eligible to attend Sunday’s auctions, but the former captain is not going to be present. According to reliable sources, only Shetty and Ganguly have been sent feelers by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to attend the meeting. “I am leaving for Bengaluru as CEO Rahul Johri asked me to attend the IPL auction as an erstwhile member. I don’t know about others,” Shetty told PTI on Sunday. [caption id=“attachment_3291496” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File photo of Sourav Ganguly. AFP[/caption] Ganguly, who is an eligible office bearer, will not be attending it as a source, privy to the developments, said “IPL GC members hardly have any role to play in auctions”. The erstwhile IPL GC included all office bearers along with Rajeev Shukla, Sourav Ganguly, MP Pandove, Jyotiraditya Scindia and Shetty. Anurag Thakur and Ajay Shirke are already ousted by Supreme Court. As per Committee of Administrators (COA) diktat, vice president CK Khanna, treasurer Aniruddh Chaudhry and joint secretary Amitabh Chaudhary are not entitled to attend with their undertakings still pending in Supreme Court. The tricky area was that COA has left it on other members of old GC to interpret and decide on their own whether they can attend or not. Accordingly Pandove has decided against it as he has demitted office in Punjab Cricket Association (PCA). “I am no longer eligible as I have demitted office. I am not attending IPL auction tomorrow.” Former IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla also had to go on compulsory cooling off as he has had more than nine years in the Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association. He will, in all likelihood, skip the auctions. Ditto for Jyotiraditya Scindia, Congress MP, who is no longer the president of Madhya Pradesh CA as he has already completed more than nine years in office. Click here for when and where to watch the auction, live coverage on TV, online streaming