Life comes full circle for Dalmiya -- Master of numbers game

Jagmohan Dalmiya, who was shunted out unceremoniously eight years ago by the BCCI, today rose from the ashes like a phoenix to repair the damage caused by one of the worst scandals to hit Indian cricket.
The 73-year-old administrator, who has also served as an ICC President, was once credited with making cricket a money-spinner in India but had to make an inglorious exit seven years ago when charges of financial misappropriation were slapped on him.
The Kolkatan came into the BCCI way back in 1979 and immediately made an impression along with his friend-turned-foe Inderjit Singh Bindra.
The dynamic duo was at the forefront in bringing the World Cup to India and commercialise the game to rake in the moolah which made BCCI the richest cricket Board in the world by the time 90's arrived.

He was elected Chairman of the ICC in 1997 and managed to make the cash-strapped body a profit-making one with tactful commercial moves which involved selling TV rights and making cricket attractive to the advertisers.
With this, he also ended the west's domination in the game and initiated the era of sub-continental prominence which is still continuing.

But he had to quit ICC under acrimonious circumstances when a controversy erupted over the sale of TV rights.
His ICC reign ended in 2000 and the very next year, he was elected President of the BCCI beating A C Mutthiah in a well-fought board elections in 2001.

That ended in 2004 but he managed to pull the strings in the election to get his favoured candidate Haryana's Ranbir Singh Mahendra beat union minister and Maharashtra strongman Sharad Pawar 16-15.