List of BCCI Presidents, who have played first class cricket

After the dissolution of COA, the future of Indian cricket is in safe reins of Sourav Ganguly. But despite the jubilation, the decision again air to the heated discussion of only picking cricketers for higher BCCI officials post.

A wide section of Indian masses felt that Indian cricket is run by politicians and corporates, who have zero inklings about the game. But Ganguly selection brought fresh air in the BCCI administration. But the cricket pitch was never fully political, many Indian cricketers reached higher posts in the administration and made a valuable contribution to Indian cricket.

Let’s take a look at the eight BCCI Presidents, who also played first-class cricket:-

Digvijaysinhji Ranjitsinhji

The first BCCI president to have also played first-class cricket was Digvijaysinhji Ranjitsinhji. He carried the cricketing legacy of his uncle Sir Ranjitsinhji Vibhaji Jadeja and played a single first-class match captaining Western India against the MCC (Marylebone Cricket Club) during the 1933-34 season. Although, he scored duck and 6 in the two innings of the match.

3 years later, he served as the President of BCCI (Board for Cricket Control in India) from 1937-1938 and was also a member of other sporting clubs around.

Anthony de Mello

Anthony De Mello was always be remembered as one of the founders of BCCI (Board for Cricket Control in India) and CCI (Cricket Club of India). He has also served as the BCCI president during the period from 1946-47 and 1950-51.

He is also among the few BCCI presidents to have played first-class games, he played 11 first-class games and bagged 17 wickets that also included 1 five-wicket haul. He also has 82 runs to his name.

Maharajkumar of Vizianagaram

Maharajkumar of Vizianagram was an Indian cricketer, administrator, and politician. He was the only cricketer to be awarded Knighthood while playing active test cricket.

He played 3 tests and scored 33 runs at an average of 8.25. He also played 47 first-class matches and scored 1228 runs at an average of 18.60.

Later he served as a BCCI president from 1954-57.

Fatehsinghrao Prataprao Gaekwad

Like Maharajkumar of Vizianagram Fatehsinghrao Prataprao Gaekwad was also an administrator, politician, and cricketer. As a cricketer, he played 28 first-class games between 1946 and 1958 and scored 831 runs with the highest score of 99.

Later, he was also made the BCCI president from 1963-1966 after already working as vice president from 1959-60. He is to date the youngest cricketer to become BCCI president, he earned the position at the age of 33.

Ramprakash Mehra

Ramprakash Mehra was an Indian cricketer and administrator, who represented Northern India in Ranji Trophy between 1934/35 and 1951/52 and Delhi in 1953/54.

He played 34 first-class games and scored 1607 runs with the highest score of 209*.

Later he became BCCI President in 1975/76 and 1976/77.

Raj Singh Dungarpur

Raj Singh Dungarpur will always be remembered as a person, who introduced Sachin Tendulkar to the world cricket. During 1989, he was the chairman of the selection committee that selected the team for the Pakistan tour. Despite all criticism, he backed Sachin’s ability and announced his international arrival.

But what we as a fan missed is that he was a highly competitive first-class cricketer, who played 86 first-class matches during 1955-1971 and scored 1292 runs at an average of 15.20. He also took 206 wickets that include 5 five-wicket hauls and 1 ten-wicket haul.

He also served as the president of BCCI on two occasions from 1996- 1999.

Anurag Thakur

Anurag Thakur’s career started off as an administrator but later turned into a politician.  While he was the president of HPCA (Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association), he played a Ranji Trophy match against Jammu and Kashmir in November 2000 and picked 2 crucial wickets.

Later he became the BCCI president in 2016 but was sacked in 2017 after COA (Cricket of Administrators) came into inception.

Sourav Ganguly

Sourav Chandidas Ganguly, the name needs no introduction, the Dada of Indian cricket has established himself as the torchbearer of Indian cricket in the last 2 decades.

He developed the fighting spirit and killer instinct within the team and transformed the team from prey to predators.

He has played 113 Tests and 311 ODI’s in international cricket and accumulated 18,575 runs with 38 centuries and 107 fifties to his name. He also has 132 international wickets to his name.

From 2015 to late 2019 he served as CAB (Cricket Association of Bengal) president, later on October 23, 2019, he became the 39th president of BCCI for the period of 10 months.