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The ICC today condoled the sudden death of BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya, saying “cricket has has lost a very experienced and seasoned administrator” in him. “The ICC is shocked to hear Mr. Dalmiya’s passing away. He was an ICC president whose contributions to the ICC, BCCI and world cricket are meritorious. With Mr. Dalmiya’s death, cricket has lost a very experienced and seasoned administrator,” the ICC said in a statement to PTI.
Dalmiya, one of cricket’s most influential administrators who will be remembered for bringing money into the game, passed away at a city hospital this evening following a massive cardiac arrest. The 75-year-old Dalmiya, who was admitted to the city’s B M Birla Hospital on Thursday night, is survived by his wife Chadralekha, daughter Vaishali and son Abhishek.
A long-serving cricket administrator, Dalmiya had been president of the ICC, held different offices in the BCCI, and occupied top posts in the CAB in a career that began in 1979. Dalmiya has not been keeping well for a while now and was not actively taking part in the day-to-day functioning of the BCCI. Dalmiya took over the reins of the BCCI for a second time in March, after a gap of 10 years, when he got a walkover in the elections. But he has been ailing since then, and his health has deteriorated further over the last few weeks.
That Dalmiya’s health has been an issue was an open secret in the Indian cricket circle for quite some time after he took over the BCCI president’s post in March, this year. For Dalmiya, cricket was more of a vocation as he was a wicketkeeper for his club Rajasthan. Once he knew that cricket as a career was not possible, he took keen interest in his family business set by father MN Dalmiya Constructions.
In 1963, the company was instrumental in building the Birla Planetorium. While he earned plaudits as tough talking businessman, his love for the game never diminished. His administrative power and knowledge of vote bank was always appreciated by his peers and seniors. He was especially close to BN Dutt, who was then emerging as a powerful figure in BCCI politics. However when Dalmiya sensed that the board needed political backing, he calculated his next move like a politician.
His relationship with Dutt was what Dalmiya would often call as “Guru-Shisya” relationship as Dutt taught him the nuances of sports administration. In the year, 1990, however it was the disciple, who upset the master’s applecart as he along with Rungta brothers Kishen and Kishore formed a faction that helped Madhavrao Scindia win an acrimonious election that ended Dutt’s tenure in BCCI.
Since then, there was no stopping for the man from Kolkata’s richest area New Alipore. He was virtually a ‘One Man Show’ for the next 15 years in the cricket board.
While the Australia and England’s cricket administrators were wary of him, they knew it was difficult to keep him away from the focus as India slowly and surely became the game’s commercial hub.
His power was gauged by the fact the he forced the erstwhile South African board president Ali Bacher to withdraw Mike Denness from match referee’s position after he alleged that India’s Sachin Tendulkar had tampered with the ball during the Port Elizabeth Test match in 2001. However in the early part of 2000, his longtime friend Bindra did not like his ways of running the board and became an adversary. It was also the time when Lalit Modi and N Srinivasan also harboured aspirations of having greater say in the board.
With Pawar also wanting to head the board, they worked tirelessly towards garnering votes. But eventually Pawar lost to Haryana’s Mahendra by 16-15 margin due to Dalmiya’s casting vote. Having never lost an election in his public life, Pawar came back stronger and demolished Mahendra’s challenge with a 20-10 verdict. It was 2005 and when Dalmiya’s slide started. There were court cases galore, he was summoned on charges of financial irregularities concerning 1996 World Cup and in 2006, he was ousted in an Estraordinary GB meeting in Jaipur.
Subsequently, he had relinquish his CAB presidency to then Kolkata Police Commissioner Prasun Mukherjee.
Interestingly, Dalmiya had defeated Mukherjee 61-56 at state cricket body’s election where the then Chief mInister Buddhadev Bhattacharjee had openly declared Mukherjee as his candidate. In fact once a sittting Police Commissioner with all his power and might lost against Dalmiya, it made CM Bhattacharjee make the now famous statement:”It was a victory of evil against good”.
So even when Mukherjee took over from Dalmiya in early 2007, he had to relinquish the post very next year after the courts cleared him of any wrongdoing. He convingly defeated Mukherjee to get his presidency back and remained at the helm till he breathed his last. However people close to him in CAB believe that those three years where he faced ignominy of financial irregularities, was ousted from the board and fought legal cases all over the country took its toll on its health and he was never the same man post 2008.
By 2011, the sharpness that world associated with Dalmiya was not there but even though someone who would be found difficult to ignore as his elevation to the post president completed a circle for the veteran Kolkatan. From Srinivasan to Modi, Pawar to Manohar, whether they liked or disliked Dalmiya, one thing they knew was his ability to bring votes to the table. Even during his final days as administrator, he enjoyed a lot of support from the eastern zone units.
However his third term as the president that started from March 2 this year was mostly marred by his ill-health and talks of not being able to conduct meetings properly. Most of the meetings were held in Kolkata but it was basically secretary Anurag Thakur, who was calling the shots. Jagmohan Dalmiya might have passed away but he had certainly left an ever-lasting legacy in Indian and world cricket administration.
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