Jagmohan Dalmiya

Jagmohan Dalmiya (30 May 1940 – 20 September 2015) was an Indian cricket administrator and businessman from the city of Kolkata.

He was the President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India as well as the Cricket Association of Bengal.

He had also served as the President of the International Cricket Council.

Dalmiya was born into a Marwari family of the Baniya (tradesman) caste, originally hailing from Chirawa, Jhunjhunu district in Rajasthan and based in Kolkata for many decades.

His father, Arjun Prasad Dalmiya, was a businessman based in Kolkata.

Dalmiya studied at the Scottish Church College, Calcutta.

He started his career as a wicketkeeper and also opened the batting, playing for one of the leading cricket clubs in Calcutta.

After his father's death, Dalmiya took charge of his father's firm ML Dalmiya and Co at the age of 19.

The firm constructed Calcutta's Birla Planetarium in 1963.

Dalmiya was married to Chandralekha Dalmiya (née Ghose), who was born into a land-owning Bengali family of Pathuriaghata belonging to the Kayastha caste.

They have a son and a daughter.

His son, Avishek, took over from his father both in business and at the BCCI.

Dalmiya's daughter, Baishali (born 1969), shortly after her father's death, joined the Trinamool Congress in 2016, and was immediately given the ticket to contest the assembly election from the Bally constituency.

Subsequently, she was elected to the state assembly.

Dalmiya joined the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in 1979 as a representative of Cricket Association of Bengal, and became its treasurer in 1983.

However, in 1984, with support votes from associate nations, the proposal passed through International Cricket Council (ICC) with a huge majority.

Along with civil servant Inderjit Singh Bindra and cricket administrator N. K. P. Salve, Dalmiya proposed the hosting of 1987 World Cup in the Indian subcontinent.

The proposal was opposed by the English Test and County Cricket Board, which had hosted all three previous World Cups.

The 1987 Cricket World Cup was the first time the tournament was held outside England, and paved way for rotation system for hosting the tournament.

Dalmiya ensured the final was played at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, renovating its clubhouse in time.

Dalmiya proposed the re-admission of South Africa to international cricket in 1991 and organised South Africa's three-match ODI tour of India the same year.

Dalmiya's role is said to have been important, as the then ICC President Clyde Walcott was not in favor of discussing South Africa's re-admission to cricket.

In November 1991, South Africa played their first international match since their suspension from international cricket in 1970, an ODI at the Eden Gardens in front of over 100,000 spectators.

This match also marked South Africa's return to international sports ending their sporting boycott.

In 1993, Dalmiya along with Bindra won a legal battle against broadcaster Doordarshan to sell the television rights of cricket matches in India.

Doordarshan was ruled to require to pay the BCCI for the rights to televise Indian matches.

In 1995, the rights were ruled by the Supreme Court of India as a commodity owned by the BCCI and could be sold to the highest bidder.

The ruling allowed the BCCI generate more revenue and strengthened its position in the global marketplace.

Dalmiya and the then BCCI President Madhavrao Scindia, secured the Indian subcontinent the hosting rights for the 1996 World Cup, turning the tables on the favorites England.

The victory was described in The Times as, "Asian tiger twists Lord's by the tail."

However, Australia and West Indies refused to play in terror-scarred Sri Lanka during the tournament.

Dalmiya, who was then the Secretary of BCCI, created a united India-Pakistan team (called the Wills XI) in a matter of days to play a goodwill match against Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka.

With a record-breaking deal for TV rights being signed for the World Cup, the tournament went on to become a major commercial success.

In 1996, Dalmiya received 23 votes to 13 for Australia's Malcolm Gray in an election for chairman's post of the ICC, but failed to attain the two-thirds majority necessary under the ICC Constitution.

However, in 1997 he was unanimously elected President of the ICC (as the position had been renamed), the office of which he held for three years.

He thus became the first Asian and the first non-cricketer at the helm of ICC.

During his tenure as president, Dalmiya's support was instrumental in awarding Test status to Bangladesh.

He had also supported Bangladesh in winning the hosting rights of the first-ever ICC Knockout Trophy in 1998.

He brought about a major overhaul in the ICC and is credited with helping ICC generate more revenue.

Bangladesh went on to play their first Test match in November 2000, against India at the Dhaka Stadium.