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The Jagmohan Dalmiya Chat

Pradeep: Mr Polly Umrigar is one of the most talented, exciting players produced by this country. He has got great administrative capabilites. He is absolutely fit for the ICC match referee's post. I do not know whether his age and health will permit to take strenuous tours. But he will definitely be on BCCI's priority list.

Sir, I am curious to know how your association with the game began. Were you a cricketer? Did you play for Bengal? What do you do when you don't run the BCCI?

are we going to tour pakistan

Mr Dalmiya, what are your views about heavy betting on cricket?

Mr Dalmiya, I have heard that this time your are going to try every possible trick to get elected as ICC cheif. What went wrong last time? Is their a clear apposition from the "white countries" against your election? Can you put some light on this issue?

Mr. Dalmiya: What do you rank bettar $ or Indian Test Cricketer? Makhan

Mr Dalmiya: Do you think it would be better to have a CEO like the TCCB has, someone who is not elected, someone who knows the game rather than people who are in it for the clout and status. Soomeone like Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev.

Quota system prevails even in other committees of the BCCI. How come finance committee strings continue to be pulled by people with dubious reputations ?e

Indian: No India 'A' team going will not serve the purpose. The idea behind sending national teams are to promote the game in that particular country and give exposure to their players against well reputed and senior players. This is also a requirement of the ICC for all Test-playing countries.

Is it true the BCCI spent thousands of pounds on the ICC chairmanship campaign . How much this year please?

There was a famous quote about the cricket system in India. "People like Gavaskar and Kapil came inspite of the system and not because of the system." Do you think the system has changed recently? What is your opinion?

Helping Gibraltar is not India's brief as per ICC handbook but that of England's. So why go out of the way and send an Indian coach there. Vote catching eh?

Makrand, I am shocked to hear that. You mean to say that the BCCI has spent money on Mr Dalmiya's campaign rather than pour it into tyhe game. No wonder the World Cup was listed as a loser. Mr Dalmiya, please respond.

Mr Dalmiya, after taking tons of criticism from different corners during your tenure as a secretary of the BCCI, you must have become a tough man...

Chanda: I agree with your views provided a player comes forward with administrative experience to that position. Whoever is selected as CEO by TCCB, he must have the experience of county administration. They are not selected as the CEO by the TCCB because they were great players.

I do not understand how you the head of the BCCI can so regularly lie and decieve people and still can aspire to become the head of the ICC. I personally hope you do not become the ICC chairman until you learn how to treat the Indian team and the Indian telant as a asset tha should not be wasted.

There was a famous quote about the cricket system in India. "People like Gavaskar and Kapil came inspite of the system and not because of the system." Do you think the system has changed recently? What is your opinion?

A substandard offspinner has gone to West Indies. Wouldn't it have been better had the BCCI cleared the air over Rajesh Chauhan who has not been called by an umpire unlike Muralitharan who continues to play Test cricket?

Are you implying that SMG and Kapil don't have administrative experience?

There is a lot of criticism about the zonal representation in the selection committee. What is your opinion?

Shail: We believe in straightforward dealing and do not subscribe to any backdoor idea for getting elected including going to a court of law. We had legal opinion in our favour last year but we decided not to go to court. We believe if one has to be elected, he is to be elected on the floor.

BCCI vice-president Manohar Joshi belongs to a party that says it will not allow Pakistan to play the Independence Cup. What guarantees have you given the PCB about security? And why are we playing the Jinnah Cup during the month of our Independence? Very bad sensitivity!

Mr. Dalmiya: Why is it that the BCCI has not protested the biased umpiring in SA and why have you not protested against the lack of net facilities in SA and why SA players were not reprimanded for sledging whereas Indian players like Azhar were warned and Ganguly and Dharmani fined. Why cant the BCCI stand up to the ICC. Also, I feel that the manner in which the number of runs to be scored when the game is cut short by rain needs to be reevaluated. HARI

Mr Dalmiya, it is largely demanded that the captain and coach should have vote in the selection. Why the BCCI is not considering it?

Mr Dalmiya: You said,that sending senior team is a requirement of ICC for all test playing countries, but I have never heard about Australia or England playing in countries like Bermuda or HongKong? Is this just to collect votes for the ICC post?

DO YOU EVER CONSULT THE PLAYERS BEFORE DECIDING THE SCHEDULE FOR THE YEAR OR IS IT A DECISION TAKEN WITHOUT CONCERN FOR THE PLAYERS'S POINT OF VIEW? HOW WOULD YOU REACT TO THE FORMATION OF A PLAYERS ASSOCIATION LIKE THEY HAVE IN ENGLAND?

Mr. Dalmiya I wanted to ask you if you became the ICC cheif would you consider canning match refrees like Jarman and incapable people like Hare who have constantly gone unpunished for their stupidity that have cost teams like India and Pakistan matches. I also want to ask if the rain rule will be changed so both teams face the same amount of balls and play the same amount of time, rather than using a computer?

Mukund: It appears that Sachin, Rahul, Saurav or for that matter Anil, Srinath and Prasad all have come despite the system. Is it not better to continue to have a system despite of which or according to which players are coming out regularly. I do not find any thing wrong in the existing system except there is always scope for improvement.

Sorry, I am a late comer. I find you implying to Shail that injuries doessn't have anything to do with the amount of cricket one is playing. But isn't it a fact that an unrested player is more prone to injuries? That a player needs a certain amount of time to recover from a game?

Learning from the present experiences, will there be any change in the Indian Cricket team's schedule in 1998? I mean little bit fewer international engagements.

WHY ARE WE PLAYING ALOTS OF MATCHES WITH SRILANKA IN THE NEXT SEASON, WHY CAN'T WE TAKE PAART IN THE BENSON HEDGES SERIES IN AUSTRALIA MOST OF THE TIME PAKISTAN PLAYS THERE

Do you agree that the Indian team performs poorly on fast tracks abroad, due to our preparation of placid tracks in India ?

Dear MR. Dalmiya I thank you for listening to our comments.I would like to bring to your notice, the case of Sanjay Manjrekar. I think there is no batsman of repute who would feel that Sanjay is not a good batsman. In spite of that why is he always being sidelined, even on such important tours like SA and WI?

Chanda: You have asked a very significant question. And I appreciate it. The schedules for domestic as well as international cricket are decided in the programme and fixtures committee and until the recent past Mr Umrigar was an ex-offical member. Whenever there is need, players are consulted. For instance, in case of the Independence Cup the itinerary was approved after consulting Madan Lal as coach, Sachin as captain and Gavaskar as chairman of the technical committee.

Bermuda matches were tagged on to South African tour as a vote catching thing it is felt.Because of that Indian team could not get an extra practice game before first Test which would have helped our batsmen cope with the bouncy tracks. .

WHY SHOULD WE GET AWAY WITH WHATEVER HAPPENS TO THE TEAM WHEN THEY TOUR ABROAD, BE IT UMPIRING OR FACILITIES, WHERE AS WE HAVE COMPLAINTS FROM VISITORS TOURING HERE, ON WHAT WAY WE ARE INFERIOR TO THEM IS IT THE RACE OR THE RELATIONSHIP

Mr. Dalmiya: TWo more questions: Why haven't you yet made a decision on Rajesh Chauhan. By your inaction in a timely fashion, you are condemning a good player. If Gavaskar has no time to evaluate Chauhan, there are others aren't there?. You say that Associate nations like bermuda needs to be exposed to test level cricket. How about our own players in India. Lately, most of our Ranji players have not played against even Indian Test players because of the tight schedule. I think that domestic cricket has to be nurtured otherwise you will find that many palyers will score meaningless centuries.Case in point: David Johnson who took a lot of wickets but failed against test standard batsmen.

Mr Dalmiya, Is it true that there is strong anti-Bombay bias in the selection committee members? Is that working agst manjrekar?

According to you , are fast pitches a necessity and if yes what do you plan to do and how soon?

Mr Dalmiya, In the South Africa tour the match referees were not fair. Why did the BCCI keep mum about this issue?

HOW MANY THOUSAND POUNDS WERE SPEND ON THE ICC CHAIRMANSHIP CAMPAIGN LAST YEAR? AND HOW MUCH THIS YEAR?

Prashant: The selection of the team is in the hands of selectors and not administrators. We as a prinicple do not interfere with the selection. I can only say that I was a witness to the discussion held among the selectors, captain and coach in the selection committtee where I was present in the capacity of convenor. There was open and threadbare discussion about the inclusion of Manjrekar and he missed out narrowly.

WE do appreciate your contribution but we feel you should rid the board of some parasites and get clear thinkers who have nothing to gain from the board.

What plans do you have for the Indian team to perform gracefully as the host of the upcoming 50 years of India tournanment?

why can't we have anational selection comitte consisting of gavaskar, kapildev, srikkanth, vishwanath and ravishastri, and substituted by other players like mohinder geakwad on non availability of the main selectors, it will solve the selection and quota system problem, don't you think it is good to have aselection comittee which thinks of the team and country's intrest rather than personal vengence and ambitions

Sir, Why is that our team management never complains against the step-brotherly treatment our team recieves in the overseas tours? We had lot of bad decisions in Umpiring, our players got fined for not doing wrong etc... . Will our team get justice in future? Are you going to take a look in this matter?

This is an extremely important question. According to you are fast pitches a necessity, and if yes , what do you plan to do and how soon. Thank you

Dalmiya: What are the plans for developing the cricket talent in India? Makhan

Mr Dalmiya, would you elaborate the areas on which the BCCI working needs improvement?

MR DALMIYA ANSWER THIS QUESTION PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HOW MANY THOUSAND POUNDS WERE SPEND ON THE ICC CHAIRMANSHIP CAMPAIGN LAST YEAR? AND HOW MUCH THIS YEAR?

Why not remove an anachronism like the National Cricket Club from the BCCI because it is a non performing unit?

Makrand: No money was spent on any campaign last year nor is going to be spent this year. Expenses incurred were for legal opinion, dinner etc which were either customary or legal opinion was need-based. Amit: The matter about referees will be taken up in the next ICC meeting. Prashant: I fully agree that fast pitches are necessary in India otherwise we shall continue to fare badly abroad where the pitches are fast and bouncy. It is essential to change the character of wickets in India as early as possible and action has already been initiated.

Can Gavaskar become ICC chairman by the back door? WE hear stories to this effect in foreign media.

Photographs: Atul Chowdhary