Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) President JAGMOHAN DALMIYA "died on Sunday night at the BM Birla hospital in Kolkata, where he had been admitted after suffering a heart attack on Thursday," according to ESPN. He was 75 and "had faced concerns around his health since starting his second term as president in March." Dalmiya "had been admitted to hospital after complaining of chest pain on Thursday." He was reported "to be stable but remained in critical care for the next two days." The hospital statement said that "his condition had become unstable on Sunday morning" and he died at 8:45pm. Dalmiya's body "will be taken to the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) headquarters at Eden Gardens on Monday afternoon for the public to pay their respects." He "had initially made a name in the construction business, which he took over from his father at the age of 19, and joined the BCCI in 1979." Along with the then BCCI President NKP SALVE and IS BINDRA, Dalmiya "was the force behind bringing the World Cup to India and Pakistan in 1987, the first time the tournament was staged outside England" (ESPN, 9/20). The TIMES OF INDIA reported Dalmiya "will always be remembered for bringing in the big bucks in Indian cricket." It was not until '79 that Dalmiya "surfaced on the national scene in the BCCI, but within four years he had managed to get himself elected as the treasurer." The same year -- 1983 -- "saw India win the World Cup for the first time but a cash-strapped BCCI was hard-pressed to reward its heroes."
Over the next decade and half, Dalmiya "fought grimly to turn around the Board's fortunes." He "found a great ally" in the then president Bindra to bring the 1987 World Cup to India. It also "marked the entry of big sponsorship with Reliance stepping up to the plate." The duo next "fought a bitter battle in court to end Prasar Bharti's hegemony over telecast rights."
Bindra and Dalmiya "changed that and sold the telecast rights of the India-England series in 1992-93 to TWI for around Rs 18 lakh." This singular achievement "changed the face of Indian cricket and more money kept pouring in than the BCCI could handle" (TNN, 9/21).
PAYING TRIBUTE: England & Wales Cricket Board President GILES CLARKE: "Jagmohan Dalmiya was an outstanding administrator. He was the first from India to be elected to the highest ICC office, a man who embodied the Cricket Association of Bengal and, above all, the architect of the successful bid and staging of the 1987 World Cup, followed by the 1996 World Cup, in India." ECB Chair COLIN GRAVES added, "Jagmohan Dalmiya was a powerful force for cricket in India and in the international game, ... We send our sincere condolences to his family and our colleagues at the BCCI" (ECB). The BBC reported former Test cricket player AAKASH CHOPRA said that Dalmiya "understood the potential of Indian cricket." The headline in the Times of India was "The man who transformed cricket." The Hindustan Times described him as the "man who made India the epicentre of world cricket." The newspaper said, "Taking over as secretary of the BCCI in the early 1990s, he saw the zooming brand value of Indian cricket and pushed hard to turn the country into a global commercial hub" (BBC, 9/21).
