India’s Mr Cricket

Even in his death, the man who brought a revered, and also a Big Brother identity to Indian cricket, Jagmohan Dalmiya seems to have silenced his detractors and critics, for one last time.

It is a rather unfortunate irony that the unabashed negative psyche of the people running cricket in the country is getting exposed less than 24 hours after the demise of a man who introduced his own brand of revolution that virtually had the big guns running for cover.

The very people who were plotting the removal of the ‘ailing’ Dalmiya from the BCCI top spot are eulogising the man’s extraordinary hard-selling power that won India an image that will remain for as the sport the game is played.

For one who opened the floodgates for sponsors by making them believe that one jackpot after another beckoned them at every turn, it was near impossible to gang up against his larger-than-life persona even while he was away from official functions.

In terms of charisma, he was as good as any celebrated Indian cricketer. As a shrewd administrator, he played his cards rather well, which people like IS Bindra, Sharad Pawar, N Srinivasan and even Lalit Modi will vouch for, given that their voices were throttled by the magnetic charm of Dalmiya, who was singularly responsible for putting an end to the stranglehold enjoyed by the ECB.

As things stand, although his election has been in true democratic fashion, and there are quite a few Vice-Presidents waiting in the wings, it appears to be one hell of a job for someone to fit into the post that has fallen vacant.

For all practical purposes Anurag Thakur is calling the shots in his capacity as an autocratic Secretary, who gives a damn to the hierarchical setup. He is determined to bulldoze his way, sidelining the Vice-Presidents waiting in the wings.

When Srinivasan had to step aside, senior Vice-President N Shivlal Yadav was elevated in true democratic spirit. Now every other person is getting ambitious and readying to throw his hat in the ring.

There is hardly anything in the panel’s constitution which specifically addresses the issue of filling up the post when a sitting president dies in office except that the Secretary has to convene an emergency meeting within a fortnight and finalise on going about the task.

Going by the mandated rules, only Pawar is poised to get the nod because a presidential candidate should have attended at least two AGMs and having been an office-bearer earlier.

Like Thakur and Pawar, even Rajiv Shukla is a politician who knows the tricks of the trade. It is time the BCCI put an end to the zonal rotation policy because it killed many a talented administrator.

Looked from any angle, there is a new war waiting to happen as a no-holds-barred struggle for one-upmanship will be the feature when bitter foes take their battle to the board room to get control of the world’s richest cricketing body.

Editor: Prof K Nageshwar