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Dalmiya Pawared out
The history of Indian cricket will have a major chapter on people who don't play the game and Jagmohan Dalmiya had already secured a prominent place in that.
The history of Indian cricket will have a major chapter on people who don't play the game and Jagmohan Dalmiya had already secured a prominent place in that.
Post Tuesday, he will not only be remembered for his unique abilities to maneuver which had elevated him to a special place but also for being brought crashing down to earth by Sharad Pawar.
The Union agriculture minister defeated incumbent Ranbir Singh Mahendra 20-11 to the post for the BCCI president all right, but his battle was against the wily tactician, whose defence was only comparable with the shrewdest of chess grandmasters.
None around could recall such a huge margin of victory in the history of BCCI and for a man known the world over for coming back from hopeless situations it was a towering blow, on his home turf.
"We wanted fair polls and that's what we have got. Justice has been done," said Pawar who had strongly questioned the transparency of the polls process after getting a taste of Dalmiya last year when he lost on his casting vote as outgoing president.
It was Dalmiya's turn to cry foul. "We lost but the margin would have been 15-16 had our legitimate voters not been barred. If politicians run cricket then the organisation might well be nationalised."
Ironical that this statement came from a man who has always cried hoarse over keeping cricket beyond the control of the state and even made this point at the Supreme Court.
Dalmiya's real irony was that he had antagonised too many people. "He doesn't want people who can think, around him, because he always wants his view to prevail irrespective of the merit in what others say," said a member of the Pawar group.
When he ponders what went wrong, Dalmiya should also notice that the tricks he tried to win polls over the years were being noticed and admired. There were significant changes in the selection committee too.
All those who batted for Ganguly and got him in the squad for the Sri Lanka Test -- Pranab Roy, Yashpal Sharma, Gopal Sharma -- were gone. Replacing them were Sanjay Jagdale (Central), Ranjib Biswal (East) and Bhupinder Singh Sr (North).
Barring the latter who played two ODIs in the mid-90s, the other two have no international experience. The ones they replaced had all played at the Test level.
