The game of cricket has lost a great administrator, says Arun Jaitley

New Delhi: Describing former BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya as a great administrator, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Monday said in his death, the country has lost an enthusiast who made India the home of cricket.

"The game of cricket has lost a great administrator who shifted the home of cricket to India. I have lost a personal friend," he said in his condolence message from Hong Kong.

The 75-year-old Dalmiya, passed away at Kolkata city hospital on Sunday following a massive cardiac arrest. He is survived by his wife Chadralekha, daughter Vaishali and son Abhishek.

"I last met him in Kolkata last month. He was hopeful of recovering. Destiny however, decided otherwise," Jaitley said in his Facebook post titled 'Dalmiya Ji – A man in a league of his own'.

Jaitley, a former BCCI administrator, said Dalmiya's passing away "is a great loss to the cricket administration, the BCCI, the CAB, his friends and family." "To me it is a personal loss as we shared a warm personal relationship for over two decades," he said.

Read: Who after Jagmohan Dalmiya? No provision for acting president

He also recalled the Dalmiya's contribution in defending the BCCI's right to telecast its own cricket matches and support the game by the revenues generated from broadcasting rights.

"I first met him in the early nineties when he and Inderjit Bindra, another veteran cricket administrator decided to take on the Government of India and defend the BCCI's right to telecast its own cricket matches and support the game of cricket with the revenues generated by Television Broadcasting rights," he said.

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Although the Government contended that 'National Security' would be threatened if uplinking was allowed to private parties, Jaitley said, "We succeeded in getting an interim order from the Supreme Court and finally won the case. Thanks to the battle fought by the 'Dalmiya-Bindra duo, 'airwaves' were freed in India and free speech on television became a reality and more meaningful."

Also Read: Jagmohan Dalmiya: The man who saw good, bad and the proverbial ugly

Having economically empowered the BCCI with the TV money, he said, Dalmiya realised the power of the "eyeballs". "India alone accounted for more than seventy five per cent of the TV audiences, an equal amount of sponsorship money and hence India's influence in the International Cricket Council would also increase. Dalmiya became the President of the ICC and India's influence in the world of cricket has never looked back," he said.

Jaitley further said even though Dalmiya attracted opposition both within the ICC and the BCCI, he managed to stage a comeback after being ousted from CAB for a brief period by the Left Front Government.

Earlier, Cricket South Africa (CSA) paid rich tributes to Dalmiya. “We knew that he was not in good health in the last while but it has nevertheless come as a shock to all of us and I extend the sympathy of the CSA community to his family, friends and cricketing colleagues and indeed to the entire Indian cricket community," said CSA president Chris Nenzani.

"The fact that he served two terms as president of the BCCI and was also president of the ICC speaks volumes both about his love for the game and the strong leadership he was able to provide. Mr Dalmiya was the man who proposed our re-entry as a Full Member of the ICC and he played a major role right to the end to ensure our relationship with the BCCI will remain strong and steadfast," he added.

CSA chief executive Haroon Lorgat, said: "Mr Dalmiya will never be forgotten in South African cricket circles for being instrumental in welcoming us back into the international cricket fold and for extending in 1991 that historic invitation to the United Cricket Board to make possible the Proteas first ever tour abroad to India.

"I always felt good around Mr Dalmiya and I will never forget his warm words during my own difficult times. He was a special person and South Africans have much to be grateful to him for the strong relationship he cultivated between the two countries. The upcoming Freedom Trophy should be a special tribute to him," he said.

"CSA salutes him as an iconic administrator and a wonderful servant of the game," Lorgat added.