NEW DELHI (Reuters)
The president of the BCCI, Jagmohan Dalmiya, has emerged as a hero in India after taking a firm stand over the Mike Denness controversy that has threatened to split the Test-playing fraternity.

Dalmiya is no stranger to controversy, but his latest act of brinkmanship has raised his profile among the passionate Indian fans.

Dalmiya, a former International Cricket Council (ICC) president, grabbed the limelight this week when he sprang to the defence of Indian sporting icon Sachin Tendulkar.

Tendulkar had been found guilty by ICC match referee Denness of tampering with the ball during India's second Test against South Africa.

Denness, a Scotsman who captained both England and Kent, slapped a suspended one-match ban on Tendulkar, who for many Indians is a symbol of perfection, success and impeccable behaviour.

Denness also sanctioned five other Indian players, including captain Sourav Ganguly, for bringing the game into disrepute through excessive appealing.

As Dalmiya led the Indian board's demand for Denness to be replaced for the third Test or for his decisions to be reviewed by the ICC, he faced rejection from the game's world governing body.

But street protesters and parliamentarians closed ranks as all of India rallied behind Dalmiya, at the same time linking Tendulkar's censure with racism.

The game, still recovering from a devastating match-fixing scandal last year, is now braced for an unprecedented civil war.

Dalmiya, a member of a trading community known for its bargaining skills, played club cricket before turning to administering the game and he has been able to rally the South African authorities behind India in a unique act of rebellion.

The two nations decided to play what would have been the third Test of the series at Centurion Park without Denness as the referee, shrugging aside the absence of ICC recognition for the game.

In doing this, Dalmiya negotiated a tightrope but was careful not to hurt South African feelings by yielding to demands that India call off a tour which has been highlighted by controversial refereeing.

The latest controversy in the game is also seen by many as a battle between the ICC's chief executive Malcolm Speed, who earlier led the Australian board, and the 61-year-old Dalmiya.

Back-room battles are familiar territory for Dalmiya, who was elected as Indian board secretary a decade ago. He later challenged the traditional ICC powers of England and Australia to become the ICC's first Asian president and led the council from 1997 to 2000.

In 1996, he surprised his adversaries by emerging on top of a three-way battle for the post, ahead of current ICC president Malcolm Gray of Australia, but failed to win the two-thirds majority required to be elected.

While thriving on power-politics within the game, Dalmiya has also emerged as a passionate cricketing evangelist, stretching its confines beyond English-speaking Commonwealth nations and arguing that the game's commercial future lies within the subcontinent.

Dalmiya's leadership has raised questions in both England and Australia but his ability to raise vast sponsorship deals, especially in India, has often helped his cause.

His leadership came into question last year, though, when match-fixing investigators turned their focus on the funding of the game but Dalmiya came out unscathed to concentrate on leading his nation's cricket board.

© Wisden CricInfo Ltd