Dalmiya to head ACF panel

Can a dynamic and high profile cricket administrator like Jagmohan Dalmiya be completely out of the game? His three year term as ICC president came to an end on Monday. But not for him a life of retirement from the game or nostalgic trips down memory lane.

Hardly did he step down from the exalted post when he was chosen to head the newly set-up Asian Cricket Fund Committee.

At a meeting of the Asian Cricket Council held in London on Tuesday night, Dalmiya's name was proposed by Lt Gen Tauqir Zia, president of the Pakistan Cricket Board who is also the current chairman of the Asian Cricket Council.

The ACF committee will be incharge of planning and management of cricket events in Asia, according to sources and they could not have picked a more able or experienced administrator than Dalmiya.

The ACF will also be responsible for generating financial resources and marketing and this is one field in which Dalmiya is an expert, having done so much to augment the ICC's financial resources. One of the important functions of the committee will be to allocate resources from the funds generated for human welfare.

The Asian Cricket Council will have its own secretariat as soon as it raises enough funds.

During the ICC annual general meeting in London and the executive board meeting in Paris, it was heartening to see India and Pakistan put up a united front on various cricketing issues that cropped up. In these difficult days, in view of the match fixing scandal, it is important that the two stay together even though both Gen Zia and Dalmiya played down reports of any rift between white and non-white countries.

With Gen Zia and Dalmiya hitting it off well, the cricketing relations between the two cricket boards are also bound to get warmer and perhaps the time has indeed come to seriously entertain thoughts of India making their long awaited return visit to Pakistan. India last visited Pakistan in 1989-90 and Pakistan's reciprocal visit here was in January-February last year for a two Test series and the Asian Test Championship.