BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur confirmed the news on Twitter and said “the greatest sports administrator of India has passed away, an era ends”. “Jagmohan Dalmiya suffered a massive gastrointestinal tract hemorrhage”.
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“BCCI Condoles the sudden demise of our president Shri Jagmohan Dalmiya”, the official handle of India’s apex cricket body tweeted.
Mr. Dalmiya had been physically incapacitated for a long while with a considerable measure of illnesses and was not effectively taking any part in the BCCI’s regular activity.
Dalmiya was unceremoniously dumped by the BCCI in 2004 over allegations of financial irregularities but made a comeback earlier this year after his predecessor Narayanaswami Srinivasan was forced out by a corruption scandal. But he was ailing since then, and his health deteriorated further over the last few weeks.
That Dalmiya’s health has been an issue was an open secret in the Indian cricket circle for quite some time after he took over the BCCI president’s post in March, this year. Along with IS Bindra, Dalmiya also got the 1996 World Cup being hosted by India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
A leading cricket administrator in his native Bengal for many decades, Dalmiya joined the BCCI in 1979 and was one of the men credited with bringing the World Cup to the subcontinent for the first time in 1987.
Dalmiya had complained of chest pain and breathing troubles at around 9 pm on Thursday night. Shiamak Unwalla looks back at the man who predated Srinivasan to be the original Godfather of Indian cricket. His power in BCCI was unopposed until 2005 when Sharad Pawar beat him in the presidential elections.
His wife left for home only this morning after seeing an improvement in his condition, the family members said.
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Aiming for the top spot, Dalmiya was elected as the President of BCCI several times. “His untiring efforts will be remembered for generations to come and his contribution to Indian cricket will remain unparalleled”, he said. “He conceived the entire idea of tv rights and now world cricket is doing well because of him”, said former BCCI Chairman Rajeev Shukla.
