Dungarpur steps down as CCI President

MUMBAI, August 4: Former Cricket Board chief Raj Singh Dungarpur has brought down the curtains on his long stint as the president of BCCI affiliate - the Cricket Club of India (CCI) - after 12 years at the helm.
"Yes, I have retired. It has been a very long innings, too long in fact. It has become very demanding and needs constant presence in the club," Dungarpur said from Pune where he's residing currently.
Dungarpur has informed the CCI executive committee that he is not going to seek re-election at the Annual General Meeting scheduled next month, according to club sources.
There had been some talk that he wanted to continue as the CCI president for one more year, but Dungarpur on Saturday made it clear that his innings have ended.
According to CCI sources Dungarpur made sure that only a sports-loving person would succeed him as president before taking the decision to step down.
About the succession procedure Dungarpur said "it has all been settled amicably".
However, it's not clear whether Dungarpur, after his long association with cricket administration, will continue to be CCI's representative in BCCI meetings though some club sources indicated that he will continue to do so for another couple of years.
Dungarpur, a first class cricketer who had represented Rajasthan in the 1960s as a medium pacer and rubbed shoulders with the likes of former India stars Salim Durrani and the late Hanumant Singh, took over the reins of CCI in 1995 from another former Test cricketer, Madhav Apte.
During the course of his innings as CCI's chief Dungarpur also concurrently held BCCI's president's post from 1996-97 to 1998-99 before AC Muthiah replaced him in the apex cricket body of the country.
Under his guidance CCI, which lost its pre-eminence as a Test centre when international cricket action shifted to the Wankhede Stadium, regained that status by hosting matches, including the final of last year's ICC Champions Trophy.
This was a far cry from the days soon after the demise of the CCI's Brabourne Stadium as a regular Test match venue in 1972 when dog races and football (Rovers Cup) were played at the revered ground.
International cricket returned to CCI in the early 1990s when it hosted a couple of ODIs before it once again went into oblivion prior to hosting the Champions Trophy ties last season after the installation of floodlights.
CCI, which fields its team in the Mumbai Cricket Association-conducted Kanga League and other inter-club events, regularly held coaching camps for youngsters during Dungarpur's tenure.
At his initiative, CCI utilised the services of former Australian cricketers Bobby Simpson and Peter Philpot, besides ex-England stumper Bob Taylor, apart from the country's own former Test players Nari Contractor, Hanumant, Bishen Singh Bedi and Erapalli Prasanna to give tips to budding cricketers.