Jagmohan Dalmiya ; He may never be cricket's comeback man, but with his recent election as President of the Cricket Association of Bengal, Jagmohan Dalmiya has proved to be cricket administration's comeback man.

He may never be cricket's comeback man, but with his recentelection as President of the Cricket Association of Bengal, JagmohanDalmiya has proved to be cricket administration's comeback man.Ousted in 2006, after being charged with financial irregularitiesduring the 1996 World Cup when he was BCCI Secretary Convenor, the68-year-old is quite a wily old fox who may have gone down but wasnever out.

Of course, Dalmiya's proclivity to foot-crush his opposition wasa natural corollary to his success in making India the money Meccaof cricket that forced the white guard to bow to his diktats evenelecting him President of the International Cricket Council in 1997following the successful staging of two World Cups in the Indiansubcontinent in 1987 and 1996.

His election also raises the bogey of him becoming the Presidentof India's richest sports body again. The present office-bearerswill naturally be uncomfortable sharing the spotlight with a manthey so viciously attacked not too long back. Dalmiya himself isdownplaying his comeback, saying he is not gunning for any slot inthe BCCI hierarchy. My focus is to get the Bengal cricket team intothe premier league of domestic cricket it has been relagated to thePlate Division for the first time in 75 years and look into theadministrative problems plaguing the association, he says. So, haveBCCI's top duo President Sharad Pawar and Secretary Lalit Modicalled him up? Well, they are busy people and I'm sure they willcall when they have the time, says Dalmiya. And while he might denyit, cricket watchers are betting on a contest royale between Pawar'spolitical clout and Dalmiya's machinations within the BCCI rank andfile.

Will he win back his fiefdom? Well, that's a multibillion dollarquestion!

Tejeesh N.S. Behl