Sports
Jagmohan Dalmiya: Wily cricket administrator makes a comeback
At the peak of his career, cricket administrator Jagmohan Dalmiya's
detractors rued that such was the man's resilience that he had it in him
to swim back to the shore if thrown deep into the sea, or rise like the
proverbial phoenix from the ashes. The 74-year-old's almost
unbelievable comeback at the head of the country's premier cricket body
has only reinforced the notion.
After losing his almost vice-like
control of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) midway into
the last decade, the Kolkata-based businessman had to endure court
cases, political pressure, corruption charges, arrest and even expulsion
from the BCCI, as he seemed helpless and lonely in the face of
sustained offensive by a formidable coalition of Sharad Pawar, I.S.
Bindra, Shashank Manohar, A.C. Mutthiah, Lalit Modi and N. Srinivasan.
Joining
them was the then West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee,
who used all his clout - both political and administrative - to oust
Dalmiya from the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB).
But Dalmiya
held on to his position in the CAB against all odds, and silently
started mending fences with his detractors in the board.
The
businessman and ace manipulator pulled off the first surprise when
sidelined president Srinivasan pitchforked him to the post of BCCI
interim chief in June 2013 after the spot-fixing scam emerged.
That
stint was small - lasting only four months - and Dalmiya's powers
seemed grossly limited, but enough to announce to the cricketing world
that he could not be written off.
Born in a business family in
1940, Dalmiya was a club-level cricketer. He kept wickets for two teams -
Jorabagan and Rajasthan - in the (then) Calcutta cricket league, and
switched to cricket administration after hanging up his gloves.
Mentored
by then BCCI mandarin Biswanath Dutt, Dalmiya cut his teeth in CAB
politics, beginning what has turned out to be one of the most chequered
and marathon innings in India's sports administration.
Dalmiya
became BCCI treasurer in 1983 - the year India won the World Cup - and
later served as its secretary, before becoming ICC chief for three years
in 1997.
After continuing as International Cricket Council chief
for three years, Dalmiya was elected BCCI president in 2001. He was
all-in-all in the board till his tenure ended in 2004.
Later that
year, Dalmiya hoisted his acolyte Ranbir Singh Mahendra as BCCI
president in a tantalizingly close election where then union minister
Sharad Pawar threw his hat into the ring for the top post.
As the
election ended in a tie, Dalmiya gave his casting vote to ensure
Mahendra's victory, prompting a dejected Pawar to remark that the entire
process was unfair.
"The umpire was the bowler," Pawar had quipped after his loss.
Dalmiya
then controlled the board by proxy for a year, with Mahendra being a
mere puppet. But the Pawar camp fought back by using all means to
checkmate Dalmiya at his own game in the 2005 election.
Months
later, the BCCI lodged a police complaint against Dalmiya for alleged
misappropriation of funds related to the 1996 World Cup in which India
was a co-host.
As Dalmiya faced a police probe, the BCCI expelled
him in December 2006, that also forced him to step down as CAB
president, months after a nerve-wracking election which he had won by
defeating the chief minister's nominee, city police commissioner Prasun
Mukherjee.
In mid-2007, Dalmiya was exonerated by the court, and
he returned to head the CAB in 2008, by defeating then president Prasun
Mukherjee.
However, in the next few years, Dalmiya seemed only a
shadow of his former self. He looked old, and his lack of full fitness
was talked about in CAB circles.
But the wily cricket
administrator bided his time, and the short term as BCCI interim chief
brought him back to centrestage, also displaying his wide acceptability
in the board.
This time around, Dalmiya seemed to have played his cards well, after the Supreme Court ran out Srinivasan from the race.
Keeping
both the lobbies headed by Srinivasan and Pawar guessing his next
moves, Dalmiya deftly exploited the hostility between the two to put
himself up as an acceptable candidate.
At the prime of his
career, Dalmiya was known as a trouble shooter par excellence. His
convincing powers were such that the joke used to be that he could sell a
refrigerator to an Eskimo.
He now takes over the reins of the
BCCI in challenging circumstances. The spot fixing scandal has taken
some of the shine off the IPL.
It will be Dalmiya's first
challenge to clean up the game, while India's poor performance in
several series away from home is also an issue that needs redressal.
His
critics say, Dalmiya's hands will be tied, as he is surrounded by
office-bearers elected with Srinivasan's backing. However, those who
have followed Dalmiya's style of functioning over the years, have no
doubt he will be his own man.