The Hindu : Dalmiya likely to remain BCCI President

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Sep 10, 2003

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Sport - Cricket

Dalmiya likely to remain BCCI President

By G. Viswanath

Mumbai Sept. 9. Come September, it's time for the Board of Control for Cricket in India's AGM and Election. The Board members have not always been together and power struggles have plagued many elections in the past.

Two years ago in Chennai, quite a few threw their hat in the ring. But Jagmohan Dalmiya got the better of A. C. Muthiah for the top post.

It was smooth sailing last year for him. A fortnight from now Mr. Dalmiya would almost definitely take guard as President for the final time on his home turf, Kolkata.

The man who gave a shot in the arm to Indian cricket, changed its face and fortunes is known to leave nothing to chance, especially in the month of September. Mr. Dalmiya gives the impression of a man worth his salt, but swears that anything can happen and therefore would not take things for granted. But Mr. Dalmiya's chances of getting elected as President for the `extra' third year are as good as they were during September 2001 and '02.

The Board, unfortunately, is heavily politicised these days, owing to the commercialisation of cricket and the money it has raked in millions.

What must be said in favour of Mr. Dalmiya is that he has made a successful business of cricket. The community of cricketers has appreciated it and his friends and foes in the Board are not complaining. The cricketers, from the entry level of junior cricket up to the National team, can hope to make a career out of the sport now.

Not long ago, Mr. Raj Singh Dungarpur made an announcement that Mr. Dalmiya and Mr. Inderjit Singh Bindra have been the best things to have happened to Indian cricket. Today, Raj Singh and Mr. Dalmiya do not see `eye to eye' in the way the administration is being run, but Mr. Dalmiya, over the years, has won more admirers and turned foes into friends.

Listening to the Board President for over an hour and more at his Shakesphere Sarani office in Kolkata a few days ago, one got the impression that he did not like the way cricket was run in India. He compared it to the way Zamindars and the Royalty conducted their rule. He thought it was not the prerogative of the few.

His father's death cut short his cricketing ambitions and the tragic happening pulled him towards administration. "It started at the Bengal level. I became Treasurer, Secretary, Vice-President — not all top posts — before I became CAB's President,'' said Mr. Dalmiya.

Sometime in the early 1990s, Mr. Dalmiya appeared at the AGM in Pune as a powerful force to reckon with. He did not contest for the post of Secretary against Mr. Nagaraj. "I had 13 associations supporting me. I will contest next year,'' he said confidently then.

Mr. Dalmiya impressed upon the lightweight associations the value and power of their votes. He rallied them around him and realised their dream too of taking part in the administration. Therein emerged an S. Karunakaran Nair from Kerala. He became the Treasurer, Chairman of Finance Committee and is now the Secretary.

States like Andhra, Orissa, Bihar, Assam, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh got their due and began to contribute to Indian cricket at different levels. The affiliated units from Eastern India showed unflinching loyalty to Mr. Dalmiya, and banking on their support he has ruled the roost.

There are positive results since he made the first move. Kerala, a soccer crazy State, produced an Indian Test cricketer in Tinu Yohannan and Orissa threw up talents like Debasis Mohanty and Shiv Sundar Das. Many other cricketers have represented the country at the junior and India `A' levels.

He changed the appearance of the Stadium and Ground at Eden Gardens that made the Australian Cricket Board almost put an ultimatum that Mark Taylor and Steve Waugh's teams played a Test match there. He made the Eden Gardens good enough for the enthusiasts from Bengal to take every seat for an international match.

Mr. Dalmiya and Mr. Bindra brought the World Cup to India for the second time in 1996. Thereafter he became the first Asian to head the ICC, the Board spending £30,000 to meet the expenses for contesting the election.

Things changed rapidly for the betterment of Indian cricket in the 1990s. States received money for developing infrastructure and grooming talent. Marketing of the game took a different dimension, and the Board made a turnaround selling TV Rights and through Title and Team sponsorships.

"I would not take the credit. It's a team effort. There was money in cricket and it had to be tapped. We did that. You need somebody to lead, but eventually it's a team effort of the Board. I am not saying this out of modesty,'' said Mr. Dalmiya.

He would complete two decades in the Board administration next September. "I did not covet for posts. I never tried to stick to posts. Somehow things have worked out. I always thought there was a challenge in it and also that I should serve the game.

"I did not even plan for the ICC Presidentship. But it was essentially cricket that motivated me. I was playing University cricket when my father died. It's a fact today that there's no post that I have not occupied in life. Right from a young age I believed that cricket cannot be confined to a few. Things were not properly done.''

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