Reducing player injuries, improving pitches for domestic cricket are top priority for new BCCI president Binny

Mumbai, Oct 18 (IANS) Former India all-rounder Roger Binny, who on Tuesday succeeded Sourav Ganguly as the newly-elected BCCI president, underlined two primary areas of focus -- reducing player injuries, improving pitches for domestic cricket in the country.

In his first interaction with the media, the 1983 World Cup winner called the injuries to premier India cricketers a "concern" and said he wants to get to the bottom of it and figure out ways of reducing them.

"We will look to improve on what we can do to reduce the injuries to players. Players getting frequently injured is a concern, and we wish to get to the bottom of it all and see how it can be changed for the better," Binny told reporters after BCCI's annual general meeting, where he was elected.

"We have excellent doctors and trainers at the National Cricket Academy [in Bengaluru], but we must look to reduce the injuries and improve recovery," he added.

According to an ESPNcricinfo report, India have fielded 40 players across formats in 2022, partly because of the volume of cricket, with series often being held simultaneously, but also because of injuries.

India will miss the services of pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah and star all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja due to injuries. On the other hand, Deepak Chahar -- who had torn a quadricep muscle in February and then picked up a back issue during rehabilitation, made only a brief comeback before another back injury ruled him out of travelling as a reserve player to Australia.

Apart from the issue of player injuries, Binny also stressed on the importance of improving pitches used for domestic cricket in India.

"There needs to be more life on the wickets at home so that our teams would not have the problem of adjusting when travelling abroad -- like in Australia, where there is more pace and bounce," he said.

The 67-year-old Binny has a lot of experience in cricket administration. He has served in different positions at the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) over the years and has been its president since 2019. Before that, he also was part of the KSCA administrations led by Patel and Anil Kumble (2010-12).

He has become only the third cricketer to become BCCI president, after the Maharajah of Vizianagram and Sourav Ganguly.

Ganguly, who was replaced at the helm by Binny, was present at the meeting as the representative of the Cricket Association of Bengal, where he is soon expected to return as president.

Meanwhile, the BCCI formally approved the women's IPL and authorised the office bearers to formalise its due processes. The board also authorised the office-bearers to decide on the BCCI representative to the ICC and announced that the Apex Council would elect the cricket advisory committee and the next selection committee.

The office-bearers have also been tasked with improving the fan experience at matches by improving the stadium infrastructure across the country.