Not qualified to be BCCI president: Ganguly

Kolkata, May 13 (IANS) Former India captain and incumbent Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) president Sourav Ganguly said on Friday that he does not meet the qualification criteria required for the Indian cricket board's top job.

Shashank Manohar quit as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president on Tuesday and it is currently looking for his replacement. Manohar was on Thursday elected unopposed as the International Cricket Council (ICC) chairman.

Ganguly needed to attend atleast three Annual General Meetings (AGM) to be in the race for BCCI's top post. He formally took over the reins at the CAB on October 15 last year after the demise of Jagmohan Dalmiya.

"I don't think I meet the qualification criteria, have only been the CAB president for 6-7 months," Ganguly told reporters at the inauguration of Bandhan Bank's Park Street branch.

Asked as to who he believes will eventually succeed Manohar, the 43-year-old said: "Difficult to say. There are a lot of experienced people who can take up the job, I am not thinking about it."

The former India skipper was recently in the news for raising a question about present India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Ganguly has asked if the selectors see Dhoni as the leader till the 2019 World Cup.

But on Friday, he was seen lauding the efforts of the prolific wicket-keeper batsman. Dhoni is presently leading Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Rising Pune Supergiants who so far have had a disastrous season.

"He is an unbelievable captain (Dhoni). It is just a tournament (IPL). It is a new franchise and a lot of their key players have been injured. Kevin Pietersen, Mitchell Marsh all have had injuries, so it becomes difficult for a side to perform without a settled line up," Ganguly said.