Dear Editor,
Jagmohan Dalmiya, an administrator of Indian cricket who went on to become head of the ICC and was responsible for transforming the financial aspect of world cricket, has passed on and has been given a state funeral in India. He was a Bengali and the state of Bengal (capital Kolkata from where indentured labourers boarded the ship to Guyana) gave him state honours with the Chief Minister attending his funeral and paying rich tribute to him. Chief ministers of other states as well as the Indian government also paid tribute to him.
Dalmiya was the President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India and the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB), as well as being head of the ICC. He died of a massive heart attack. He was 75. His body was placed at Eden Gardens, Kolkata, for public viewing. Politicians, sports personalities, and sports fans came in their numbers to pay homage. The body was kept in a special air-conditioned glass case under a canopy on the lawn. A gun salute was accorded him at the stadium to the accompaniment of tunes by the city police band.
Dalmiya singlehandedly changed Indian cricket making it lucrative for players in India and globally, and making India the centre of cricket to which other cricketing nations looked for guidance and finance. Without Dalmiya, “there would have been no serious money in the game, no Indian superpowerdom”. In short, he changed the face of international cricket.
In an Indian newspaper, Malcolm Speed, CEO of the International Cricket Council, was quoted saying this about Dalmiya: “He had a manic determina- tion to make India a world cricketing power…” He also described him as “the most resolute, able, difficult, prickly and unpredictable man”.
It is noted that in 2001 when India threatened to pull out of a tour of South Africa following Match Referee Mike Denness’s sanctioning of six players including the great Sachin Tendulkar, Mark Lawson wrote in The Guardian: “The right of the old, White world to decide the manners and rules of the game is what’s being challenged.” Dalmiya felt the match referee’s decision was a national insult to India; needless to say Denness backtracked. That was the power of Dalmiya.
A similar action occurred in Australia when bad umpiring against Sachin and others led to a threat to pull out of the tour. The match referees and umpires backed down rendering fair umpiring decisions.
Dalmiya was supportive of players feeling they should be paid well as professionals. And they were, earning millions during their careers. Former captain Anil Kumble described him as ‘Players’ President’, for always keeping the door open for dialogue with the players.
When he came to the ICC, it was noted that the two superpowers England and Australia had the right of veto over decisions, and there were just a few thousand pounds in the organization’s bank account.
Before long, $17 million accrued into the ICC account and tens of millions in the BCCI account. In addition, Indian players became multi-millionaires. Dalmiya made India the biggest cricket market. And today, India has veto power over cricket decisions, but while he was in charge of the ICC he gave equity to the other nations in terms of voting power.
Indian TV used to demand money to carry cricket. But under Dalmiya TV paid the Board to carry cricket and today India earns hundreds of million annually from broadcast rights.
As Ratnakar Shetty, the BCCI CAO and a veteran administrator, said: “Be it generating broadcasting revenue or becoming the first non-white president of the ICC, Dalmiya initiated path-breaking reforms in world and Indian cricket. His loss cannot be compensated and he will always be remembered as the one responsible for making India a superpower in world cricket”.
Yes, Dalmiya has enriched cricket around the globe enabling cricketers from the Caribbean and other poor countries to become millionaires. India would not have replaced England as the mecca of cricket without Dalmiya, and Guyanese and other Caribbean cricketers would not have earned as much as they do today.
Yours faithfully,
Vishnu Bisram
