It is an extraordinary reinstatement. Jagmohan Dalmiya, 73, who was just a few years earlier removed from the Board of Control for Cricket in Indfia (BCCI) amid charges of misappropriation and had sought anticipatory bail against arrest, is today back at the body's helm, although admittedly only under an interim arrangement.
Presumably, Dalmiya was named interim BCCI head to prevent Sharad Pawar and his supporters from dominating the board again, which happens to be the wealthiest sports body in India. In the past, Dalmiya was named and served as patron-in-chief of BCCI, an extra-constitutional position, ostensibly because of his connections with the International Cricket Council (ICC) but actually because of his legendary networking skills.
Dalmiya is a Marwari businessman from Kolkata whose family company, ML Dalmiya and Co, made its business out of civil contracts. He was considered a friend by former state chief minister Jyoti Basu, who gave him the contract in 2004 to move leather tanneries out of the city to a new Rs 2,000-crore complex.
World cup magic
Dalmiya's cricket administration success began in the late 1980s when the Prudential Cup was relaunched in India and Pakistan as the Reliance Cup. World Cup cricket became more or less moribund after India's victory in 1983 and almost ended in 1987. Dalmiya repackaged it, bought telecast rights and made it a commercial proposition. He did this by reviving the BCCI, another organisation that seemed to be dying. The finals of the Reliance Cup were played in Kolkata, putting Bengal firmly in the driving seat of cricket administration.
But Dalmiya had a challenger, the suaver Madhavrao Scindia, who saw the opportunities in cricket. Dalmiya could figure out quickly enough that this was a battle he was better off not fighting. He withdrew but kept his powder dry and when Scindia died in a plane crash, re-emerged, cashing old IOUs.
How does the business of cricket administration work? Like politics, it is about power and patronage. Dalmiya rose to power using networking; all regional associations voted for him. He gave them not just resources but a chance to come in the arclights.
But he now had another challenger in Lalit Modi who tried to start the Indian Premier League (IPL). Dalmiya tried to explain that club sport and national sport needed to have two different business models: managing a national league and being selectors for Ranji Trophy; and managing club cricket like IPL needed different approaches. He had a famous showdown with Modi where he told him IPL was not going to take off. But the model was attractive, so much so that many others jumped on to the BCCI-IPL bandwagon and Dalmiya was again sidelined.
One of the new challengers was Sharad Pawar but the latter got a bloody nose because of Dalmiya. He lost an election because Pawar's Maharashtra supporters were prevented from voting. In retaliation, when Pawar did become president, criminal cases were filed against Dalmiya but while giving him anticipatory bail, the judge observed that "the cases appeared to have been filed in indecent haste". Ironically, all the charges of misappropriation of funds landed at the door of Lalit Modi.
Today, Dalmiya's back at the helm at a time when the BCCI arguably faces its biggest ever challenge. The clash is between commerce - there is so much money locked up in IPL that it cannot be allowed to die - and the short-cut route to riches. Dalmiya has many friends in important places, beginning with the First Citizen. In the interim at least, if there is one person who can straighten things out, it is Dalmiya. In the long run, market forces will decide what the fate of IPL will be.
Presumably, Dalmiya was named interim BCCI head to prevent Sharad Pawar and his supporters from dominating the board again, which happens to be the wealthiest sports body in India. In the past, Dalmiya was named and served as patron-in-chief of BCCI, an extra-constitutional position, ostensibly because of his connections with the International Cricket Council (ICC) but actually because of his legendary networking skills.
Dalmiya is a Marwari businessman from Kolkata whose family company, ML Dalmiya and Co, made its business out of civil contracts. He was considered a friend by former state chief minister Jyoti Basu, who gave him the contract in 2004 to move leather tanneries out of the city to a new Rs 2,000-crore complex.
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Basu's successor, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, saw Dalmiya as both an imposter and a threat and tried to wrest control of the state cricket establishment by putting up the police commissioner of Calcutta as a rival candidate; the latter lost the election comprehensively.
World cup magic
Dalmiya's cricket administration success began in the late 1980s when the Prudential Cup was relaunched in India and Pakistan as the Reliance Cup. World Cup cricket became more or less moribund after India's victory in 1983 and almost ended in 1987. Dalmiya repackaged it, bought telecast rights and made it a commercial proposition. He did this by reviving the BCCI, another organisation that seemed to be dying. The finals of the Reliance Cup were played in Kolkata, putting Bengal firmly in the driving seat of cricket administration.
But Dalmiya had a challenger, the suaver Madhavrao Scindia, who saw the opportunities in cricket. Dalmiya could figure out quickly enough that this was a battle he was better off not fighting. He withdrew but kept his powder dry and when Scindia died in a plane crash, re-emerged, cashing old IOUs.
How does the business of cricket administration work? Like politics, it is about power and patronage. Dalmiya rose to power using networking; all regional associations voted for him. He gave them not just resources but a chance to come in the arclights.
But he now had another challenger in Lalit Modi who tried to start the Indian Premier League (IPL). Dalmiya tried to explain that club sport and national sport needed to have two different business models: managing a national league and being selectors for Ranji Trophy; and managing club cricket like IPL needed different approaches. He had a famous showdown with Modi where he told him IPL was not going to take off. But the model was attractive, so much so that many others jumped on to the BCCI-IPL bandwagon and Dalmiya was again sidelined.
One of the new challengers was Sharad Pawar but the latter got a bloody nose because of Dalmiya. He lost an election because Pawar's Maharashtra supporters were prevented from voting. In retaliation, when Pawar did become president, criminal cases were filed against Dalmiya but while giving him anticipatory bail, the judge observed that "the cases appeared to have been filed in indecent haste". Ironically, all the charges of misappropriation of funds landed at the door of Lalit Modi.
Today, Dalmiya's back at the helm at a time when the BCCI arguably faces its biggest ever challenge. The clash is between commerce - there is so much money locked up in IPL that it cannot be allowed to die - and the short-cut route to riches. Dalmiya has many friends in important places, beginning with the First Citizen. In the interim at least, if there is one person who can straighten things out, it is Dalmiya. In the long run, market forces will decide what the fate of IPL will be.