Jagmohan Dalmiya, the new President of the Board of Cricket for Control in India (BCCI), held a press conference in Chennai on Sunday. The man, who has been the torchbearer for the globalisation of cricket in his capacity as the president of the ICC, finds his present role an honourable one. He said, "It is an enormous responsibility, a challenging task. I have been asked to arrest the slide Indian cricket is going through. It is not an easy thing but I will try to find out what went wrong and find a cure for it. I don't believe in blaming the predecessor."

Dalmiya read out the BCCI media release and clarified a few points. About the appointment of Sunil Gavaskar as the Chairman of National Cricket Academy, Dalmiya said, "I had a chat with Gavaskar last evening. Despite his busy schedule he has agreed to accept this assignment. He will be giving the time needed for the NCA. It (Gavaskar's busy schedule) may be a constraint, but is not an insurmountable one," said Dalmiya.

When asked about the reasons for Raj Singh Dungarpur's resignation, Dalmiya said, "You've to ask Mr Raj Singh about it. My predecessor told me in the morning that he had received Raj Singh's resignation letter. I didn't go through the letter."

Dalmiya is the man in full control of the BCCI and made it clear to all and sundry about the same. "Cricket is passing through a crisis that all started with match-fixing. At the moment we are looking at the 2002 Under-19 World Cup and the 2003 World Cup." He said that in spite of the fact of the best possible facilities, in the form of a foreign coach, sports trainer and consultants from Australia, the team had not delivered the goods.

Even though he was not directly critical of John Wright and Andrew Leipus, there were enough signals to suggest that strong actions will be taken to change the fortunes of the Indian cricket team. "Something somewhere is missing... maybe at the administration, coaching or players end. We have not been able to achieve, we are still occupying the eight position in World cricket, just ahead of Zimbabwe and Bangladesh."

Dalmiya made a firm statement, which is bound to have repercussions in the coming days, "Everybody has to be made accountable."

When asked about the corrective measures that will be taken to stop the slide, he said, "Only performance can stop this. More time has to be spend on this issue, one has to go to the root of the problem, locate it and take corrective measures."

About the comeback of Shivlal Yadav as a national selector, Dalmiya was quick to clear the air,"it is for the zones to make a choice about the selector."

Dalmiya said that top priority will be given to India 'A' tours, which will provide the second string players with enough exposure to the rigours of playing at a higher level.

With regard to the domestic cricket, Dalmiya said that the present system will continue for two more seasons. The two-tier system will come into being from the 2003-2004 season, and teams would be classified on the basis of the results of 2002-2003 season. The BCCI President said that the Chairman of the technical committee Sunil Gavaskar had no access to any report by Geoff Marsh, who was hired by the board to look into the domestic structure. "No such report was tabled in the General Body meeting of the BCCI."

Dalmiya said that the Government had only barred the team from playing in Sharjah, Singapore and Toronto. "That is just three countries, if the Government doesn't want it, we will have to abide, however, that doesn't stop us from going to other 103 countries." The new President was getting a bit carried away and was quick to realise that, he added, "globalisation is not the job of the Board, the board has nothing to do with globalisation, Indianisation of the game will happen, we should take the game to north-east... that we will do!"

Addressing the most serious issue in front of BCCI, match-fixing, Dalmiya made it clear that the Board would not have any second thoughts on reconsidering the ban imposed on players. He said that the match fixing is a heinous crime and is like betraying one's country.

When asked about his name being linked to reports regarding the TV rights issue, Dalmiya went on the offensive. "In which report my name has come, I have not seen, can you just get me (the report)? It is just in newspapers... couple of newspapers have mentioned, I will sue them. I filed a case one and a half years back but they have not come for the hearing."

There was a quick mention about the PILCOM 1996 issue too, Dalmiya made it clear that it is just a difference of opinion between the board and Tax authorities that this can be sorted out. PILCOM was only a management body of the three boards (Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka) put together and hence should not be taxed for the revenue made out of the World Cup 1996. As a matter of fact the Punjab Cricket Association had moved three motions (PILCOM, Income tax 10 (23) and IS Bindra's suspension) and all were withdrawn unconditionally during the AGM on Sunday.

As for the issue of the Income Tax exemption [10 (23)] that the BCCI was enjoying in the past being withdrawn with effect from 15th September 2001, Dalmiya said, "We have already got the exemption, it is a question of somebody going back and changing it. Our contention is that it was a higher official in the Central Revenue Board of Taxation who has granted exemption. Only somebody higher up or at the same level can withdraw it; the exemption that had been granted is under the statute of Government of India that we are entitled to. It is not the BCCI that will suffer if the exemption is withdrawn, all 30 units will suffer, and everybody will suffer."

The Board President said that he would give top priority in having a Media Manager for the BCCI that everybody is kept well informed. Dalmiya has no problems in working with Niranjan Shah, who is loyal to the Muthiah faction. The astute businessman was quick to recall that in 1991 he, as the Board Secretary, got along well with the then President Madhavrao Scindia. Sadly, by the time the press conference came to an end the word slipped through that Madhavrao Scindia had been killed in a tragic air crash.

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