BCCI president passes away

Jagmohan Dalmiya, the president of India's powerful cricket board, has died on Sunday at a hospital in Kolkata where he was being treated for a heart condition.

He was 75.

"On behalf of all the members of BCCI, I wish to submit our condolences to the bereaved family of Mr Dalmiya," said Anurag Thakur, secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India.

"As a visionary and a father figure of Indian cricket, Mr Dalmiya worked towards the development of the game of cricket in India. 

"The cricketing fraternity will miss him dearly.

"Mr Dalmiya played a significant part in positioning Indian cricket at the global level and the astute administrator in him, guided Indian cricket to greater heights. His untiring efforts will be remembered for generations to come and his contribution to Indian cricket will remain unparalleled."

Dalmiya, who was also a former head of the International Cricket Council, is credited with overseeing India's emergence as the game's powerhouse during previous stints at the helm of the BCCI.

Cricket Australia chairman Wally Edwards paid tribute to the "highly respected and powerful figure".

"Australian cricket extends its deepest sympathies to the family and friends of Mr Dalmiya, as well as the Board of Control for Cricket in India following his sad passing," said Edwards.

"Mr Dalmiya was a highly respected and powerful figure in the international game and played a key role in the BCCI’s growth including India hosting the 1987 and 1996 ICC Cricket World Cups.

"His tenure also coincided with Australia and India forging closer links on and off the field including the establishment of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy which has since seen highly competitive and memorable Test series between the two countries.

"He will be remembered for his long-standing administrative career including his roles with the ICC where he rose to become the first Indian appointed President during a period in which the game's popularity and commercial appeal grew substantially."

He returned to the post of BCCI president in March but was subsequently dogged by health problems and he was taken into intensive care at Kolkata's BM Birla Heart Research Centre on Thursday night after suffering severe chest pains.

Dalmiya was unceremoniously dumped by the board in 2004 over allegations of financial irregularities but his comeback earlier this year came after his predecessor Narayanaswami Srinivasan, the current chairman of the ICC, was forced out by a corruption scandal.

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