Pawar-shift

REGIONAL ROUNDUP

Sharad Pawar's victory over Jagmohan Dalmiya in the BCCI elections was top news in most newspapers across the country. Indeed, the treatment given was also broadly similar "" the main news on the front page. or pretty near it "" and other analysis on the future of Sourav Ganguly now that Dalmiya is no longer around. The changes in the selection committee as well as the disbanding of the team to oversee the functioning of coach Greg Chappell, however, didn't get the same kind of play in the non-English language newspapers.

In the north, Dainik Bhaskar reported the news on the inside pages the second day, but had the Pawar victory as the lead story on the day it happened. It even had a box item on BCCI's wealth "" Rs 300 crore in FDs and Rs 380 crore of annual telecast right fees. Punjab Kesri had it as the second lead (Pawar gets power) and an inside page story quoted Dalmiya as saying Sourav got back into the team due to his capabilities and not because of Dalmiya. Rajasthan Patrika had a story saying that you couldn't ignore Dalmiya's contribution to BCCI, in exactly the same way that you cannot ignore Sourav's contribution to taking the cricket team to where it is today.

Tamil daily Dinamalar has been carrying stories on the BCCI election for the past five days in its sports section. The paper devoted considerable space to the confusion that prevailed during the run up to the election, and finally the results. Kannada daily Praja Vani carried it as the lead story with a two-column picture of Sharad Pawar on November 30 along with a mug shot of outgoing president Ranbir Singh Mahendra.

The Bangla papers presented the BCCI elections as a battle over who will rule Indian cricket "" Bengal or Maharashtra. The coverage also focused on how the elections were intricately connected with the fate of Sourav Ganguly's cricketing career. Eight-column lead displays were reserved by all Bangla newspapers on the day the results were declared. They were accompanying stories on how Sourav's dream to make a comeback to the playing eleven of the Indian Test cricket team might remain unfulfilled as a result. Ananda Bazar Patrika carried an exclusive report on the day of the results on the factors that led to Dalmiya's defeat. The report explained in detail how Congress President Sonia Gandhi instructed several state level politicians, involved with cricket associations in the respective states, to support Pawar. Claiming that this was how Dalmiya got defeated, the report pointed out that Sonia Gandhi's ploy was part of a larger game plan to strengthen the coalition at the Centre. This report was followed up by mainline national English dailies a day later. An editorial in the same newspaper conceded the inevitability of politics in a high-profile game like cricket, but urged greater professionalism in its administration.