Iron man of Indian cricket

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal"><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">NEW DELHI, Sept. 19:</span> He has been accused of indulging in Machiavellian politicking. But even his worst critics concede that Jagmohan Dalmiya''s business sense has made Indian cricket a lucrative enterprise. Everyone - from the players to those even remotely associated with the game - are making some serious money.<br /><br />Dalmiya, the king of all trouble-shooters, has taken on the International Cricket Council, dissent within the BCCI and even the players on occasions only to come out as clean as driven snow.I want to lose, but:Sachin <br /> <br />Consider this: Dalmiya, with his trademark manipulation, turned the the World Cup guarantee money issue on its head and promised that the Indian players will actually get the money ($9 million) back with interest!<br /><br />With this kind of attitude, perhaps Dalmiya should run for India''s prime ministership! Imagine Dalmiya dealing with the Kargil issue or the Kashmir problem. He would have manipulated the situation to such an extent that Musharaff and Bush would have been eating out of his hands and liking it. <br /><br />He is an opportunist, a manipulator, master strategist, plays the waiting game and almost never loses his cool. In a nutshell he has all the qualities of a master politician.<br /><br />Or take the Ayodhya issue. Dalmiya would have listened to all, given a sense of confidence to the warring parties and in one master blow built a cricket stadium on the disputed spot and held an India-Pakistan One Dayer, with one end called the ''mandir end'' and the other the ''masjid end''!<br /><br />In no uncertain terms has Dalmiya made it clear to the world that India is where the buck ends. With India being the hub of sponsorship in cricket, it is not surprising that the BCCI president has been able to tweak adverse circumstances to suit his objectives. <br /><br />Can any other cricket board chief talk about hiring an independent agency to look into the Global Cricket Associations'' claims or state that the World Cup was marketed poorly?<br /><br />The GCC had slapped claims of around Rs 230 crore. Interestingly, the ICC, taking shelter beneath the GCC claims, has done a volte-face. <br /><br />Suddenly the ICC''s legal battery discovers that some of the GCC claims have no foundation. The GCC, left in the lurch with the ICC and the BCCI forming a bond, had no other way then to bring down the claims drastically to Rs 80 crore! <br /><br />Once again Dalmiya has shown himself as the protector of the interests of Indian cricketers and that is not to mention the second bird he killed with the same stone. The reference is of course to The Indian Cricket Players'' Association.<br /><br />With his pro-active approach to sort out the ''guarantee money'' issue, Dalmiya has once again stood up for the players. The players'' association is now reduced to questioning another of Dalmiya''s gems - the player''s contracts. <br /><br />Arun Lal, heading the player''s association, questions the premise on which the BCCI has arrived at the three categories of contracts - A, B and C getting Rs 60 lakhs, Rs 30 lakhs and Rs 15 lakhs respectively annually. <br /><br />Lal feels that the dice is heavily loaded in favour of senior players. That might be true but ask the cricketers who will be happy that at least a start has been made with graded payments. <br /><br />And for a cricketers playing for an entire season, this money is just small change. He will end up earning a lot more through endorsements and sponsorships.<br /><br />And, make no mistake, the biggest feather in the cap of the ICC chief Ehsan Mani can only be the resumption of bilateral cricket ties between India and Pakistan. And to make that happen, he needs the support of Jagmohan Dalmiya who is for the time being waiting for a nod from the Indian government.<br /><br />Maybe just maybe Dalmiya who can kick off bilateral cricket ties with Pakistan, given a chance might foster India-Pakistan friendship.</div> </div>