Looking back on Dalmiya's tenure

Jagmohan Dalmiya lays down office as president of the International Cricket Council on Monday and if there is one word to describe his reign it would have to be eventful. The balance sheet will show both plus and minus points and there is no doubt that the Calcutta based businessman made his presence felt around the cricketing world. He certainly was no rubber stamp president and he emerged as a high profile administrator.

Whether globalising the game, earning more revenue for the world body or clinching lucrative TV deals, Dalmiya saw to it that he remained in the headlines. Sometimes he hogged the headlines for the wrong reasons. Overall however one would have to have mixed feelings about his term of office, which lasted three years.

Globalisation was of course Dalmiya's pet theme. He made it clear from the time he took over that he would like to spread the game to the remote corners of the world. Cricket was taken to countries like Morocco, and leading players were seen in action in tournaments staged at Singapore, Nairobi, Toronto and Dhaka. A major push was taken to give Bangladesh Test status.

On the face of it, globalisation was a laudable idea. After all, much of the criticism against cricket, as compared to other really worldwide sports like football and tennis, was that it was being played in only a handful of countries and so how could it be called a truly international sport. But this move had its controversial side too. Critics now charge that the policy of globalising the game played its part in encouraging and furthering match fixing. And of course arch rival IS Bindra has alleged that Dalmiya pursued the idea for his own benefit. Even his marketing acumen and TV deals, through which the ICC finances now have a much healthier look, were not without a touch of controversy with detractors alleging that he benefited financially from such transactions.

There is no denying that under Dalmiya's tenure, Asian cricket never had it so good. The Asian Test Championship - hopefully a forerunner to another of Dalmiya's pet projects, a World Test Championship - was conducted on the sub continent last year with much success. The growth of the game in Asia received an impetus with more associate members joining the world body and more tournaments being held in the region. And now Bangladesh may be on the verge of becoming the tenth Test playing nation. Also, as he showed while over ruling the ICC throwing committee's view on the Shoaib Akhtar issue, he was not just a person who wanted to sit in the ivory tower and take decisions. He wanted to get to the heart of the matter, wanted to be involved with every aspect of the game even if it made him unpopular, like his stand on the Akhtar issue undoubtedly did.

Of course the question will be asked as to what Dalmiya did to douse the fire that the match fixing scam caused in the cricketing world. To be candid, there was little he could do besides calling meetings to discuss the issue. The ICC is such a conservative thinking body, hardly moving ahead with the times that the president is bound by certain constraints. But perhaps Dalmiya and the ICC should take the blame for not anticipating the scandal, even when there were enough warnings.

But as I said, Dalmiya's reign was marked by both ups and downs. And as the first ICC chief from this region, his place in cricketing history is secure. One thing is sure. No one can say that his tenure was devoid of action, incidents and controversy.