India cricket board race hots up

By Arjun Sandhu

The role of president of the Indian Board of Control is one of the most powerful in world cricket.

Dalmiya's three-year term of office has ended

A measure of the influence wielded by the post-holder can be shown by the fact that cricket attracts three quarters of all sports advertising in India and millions watch the national team's games on TV.

For the past three years, Jagmohan Dalmiya has been the man pulling the strings.

But all that will change on Wednesday, and the race to succeed him is hotting up.

The rival candidates are making last-minute bids to garner support in an intriguing election which has come about because Dalmiya cannot stand again under BCCI rules.

He will remain an important figure, having recently been nominated for a new role as the Board's patron-in-chief.

But his stranglehold on power could be reduced depending on the identity of his successor.

Until last weekend, the chief candidates were Arun Jaitley from Delhi and Haryana's Ranbir Singh Mahendra, the latter a former board secretary who has Dalmiya's backing.

But the picture changed significantly when central Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar decided to throw his hat into the ring by requesting a nomination from the Punjab Cricket Association.

Dalmiya and Pawar do not see eye to eye and if the latter is elected he will look to bring in his own men to fill key Board posts.

Pawar first became involved in cricket in 2001 when he was elected president of the Mumbai Cricket Association, defeating former India captain Ajit Wadekar in the process.

Six months later he backed then BCCI chief AC Muthiah's re-election as board president, but Dalmiya pulled off a surprise coup to snatch it from him.

How long Dalmiya will continue to pull the strings depends on his own man Mahendra, whom many are calling his 'ruler by proxy', succeeding in the election.

Pawar is believed to be a strong candidate

A total of 30 votes will be cast and Mahendra's backers say they believe he has ensured 15 of them.

And Dalmiya does hold the power of the casting vote should the result be a tie.

So this means Pawar must get at least 16 votes to become the BCCI's next president.

Mahendra would most probably keep SK Nair as secretary, Brijesh Patel as joint secretary and Jyoti Bajpai as treasurer.

Whereas reports suggest Pawar wants Niranjan Shah as his secretary and MP Pandove as joint secrtary.

Whatever happens, Dalmiya will certainly not walk into the sunset.

His nomination as patron-in-chief, which will allow him to represent the BCCI at International Cricket Council meetings, will ensure he remains a significant presence on the board.

And he has recently been elected president of the Kuala Lumpur-based Asian Cricket Council too.

But if Pawar succeeds, Dalmiya will not be the top dog anymore - a situation with which he is unfamiliar.

An interested observer is another former Board president Raj Singh Dungarpur, who fell out with Dalmiya after winning an election in the mid-90s.

And he thinks the pair could find a way of working together, should Pawar top the poll.

"There might be a compromise. The next Champions Trophy is to be played in India in 2006 - Dalmiya could allow Pawar's unopposed election and then be asked to deal with the ICC as the Board's chief patron, "said Dungarpur.

Indian cricket followers await the outcome with interest.