As Dalmiya rises, Ganguly falls

Kolkata, July 31 (UNI) As Jagmohan Dalmiya took the President's seat at CAB, the corridoors reverberated with anti-Sourav Ganguly slogans for the first time ever as a ringing endorsement of what people felt about both in this part of the world.

Six days before the CAB polls an e-mail from Ganguly obliquely pointed at his mentor Jagmohan Dalmiya to be responsible for the Chappel-mail leak that led to his ouster from the Indian team.

Last night, after winning the polls Dalmiya said, ''I don't have any grudges against him (Ganguly).'' On whether he will try to get him back into the squad or not, he said, ''As the CAB President I have my responsibilities. It's a religion for me to protect my players and look after their well being. I have never believed in discriminating and the question does not arise now also.

''When I was the president of BCCI, I fought for everyone whether it was Sachin Tendulkar or Virender Sehwag, whether it was Anil Kumble's injury or Javagal Srinath's. I have never discriminated,'' he said.

''I am very optimistic about Sourav. I hope to see him back into the Indian team soon. He is a cricketer with rare talent and I will say he deserved his place in the team,'' he said.

Asked if he would take any action on the e-mail, he said, ''That's for the working committee to decide.'' However, even as he said these words there were slogans in the CAB premises that ranged from ''Sourav Hatao' to ''Sourav Gaddar''.

This is perhaps the first time that people in Bengal have reacted in such a negative manner towards their icon.

To top it all, when Snehashis Ganguly came out after casting his vote, he was booed by scores of people who had gathered on the road trying to catch a glimpse of the poll-process.

So while Dalmiya will have to deal with the riddles of solving the monetary crisis in CAB following the Rs 40 crore credit missive from the BCCI and defalcation charges against him in his own way, the felling of Sourav Ganguly is something that the polls have brought to the fore.

Whether Ganguly will be around or not, only time will tell, but for now the verdict on the e-mail issue is in favour of Dalmiya and the proof of the pudding lies in the crown that Dalmiya wears.

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