Sourav Ganguly will be free of “responsibility”, at least for some time, after he decided against returning as president of the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB), leaving the post to his elder brother Snehasish Ganguly.

Sourav, after being denied a second term as president of the Indian cricket board, had said he would file his nomination for the CAB top job. Even on Friday, he had said he would do so the next day.

But an indication of a U-turn came on Saturday when he said he would take the call on filing the nomination on Sunday, the last date for doing so.

On Sunday afternoon, he made it clear that he would not be filing, which meant a smooth passage to the top post for former first class cricketer Snehasish.

Snehasish had earlier been tipped to succeed outgoing president Avishek Dalmiya till Sourav entered the conversation after the BCCI snub. According to Snehasish, Sourav had changed his mind about filing his nomination on Saturday.

“Sourav changed his mind yesterday (Saturday) and decided not to file his nomination,” Snehasish, who’s set to be named the president after the CAB annual general meeting on October 31, said on Sunday.

Had there been a fullfledged election, Sourav would have contested for the president’s post, which the former India captain too acknowledged.

“I had said that I would contest only if there is an election. There wasn’t any election, so it was uncontested. Had I been there (as president), it would have meant two more people wouldn’t get any posts. So I have moved aside,” Sourav said at Eden Gardens.

“I would’ve been (elected) uncontested, but I don’t think it’s right. Had I been there, others would not have got the opportunity to work for this association. They will be working for these three years now, and we’ll see after that.

“These are all experienced people and they will be running the show now. I’ll be there for them sometimes,” he added. So what’s next for Sourav now? “Let’s see... Happy that I’m out of responsibility for a while,” the former Board president replied.

On Sunday afternoon, Sourav met with around 60-70 people at the Eden, comprising association officials and members. According to sources, hardly anyone had any objection to the new panel of office-bearers that was chosen.

With Snehasish as the president, the secretary’s post will be going to Naresh Ojha, who has been the CAB vice-president. Debabrata Das continues as the joint secretary with Prabir Chakraborty replacing Debasish Ganguly as treasurer.

The vice-president’s post will now go to Amalendu Biswas, who has been a manager of the senior Bengal men’s team in the past.