(Exclusive): Ex-ICC chief Mani misses Dalmiya’s ‘decisive leadership’
Former International Cricket Council
president Ehsan Mani has said that the BCCI had delayed it far too long
in seeking the government’s permission for the national team to play
Pakistan in a bilateral series scheduled for December in the United Arab
Emirates.
While describing cricket as a “wonderful
tool” to connect people of the two countries, Mani said the BCCI
“severely missed” the “decisive leadership” of Jagmohan Dalmiya, his
late friend who shared his belief that the game could help bridge all
gaps between India and Pakistan.
The immensely successful India’s tour of Pakistan in 2004 for the Friendship Series is the brightest example.
Giving another example, 70-year-old Mani
said that the Edhi Foundation taking care of Geeta, an Indian girl who
strayed into Pakistan inadvertently, for 13 long years illustrates that
human beings could co-exist without political boundaries.
“It is very disappointing that BCCI, led
by Mr [Shashank] Manohar, has left it to the 11th hour to approach the
government,” the London-based Mani told jantakareporter.com
To be fair to Manohar, he reluctantly took over the BCCI reins only on October 4, following the death of Dalmiya.
Manohar then decided to resume talks with
the Pakistan Cricket Board. He invited his Pakistani counterpart
Shaharyar Khan and two other top officials for discussions on the
possible resumption of the India-Pakistan series. But due to a protest
by Shiv Sena workers in Mumbai, the talks probably didn’t take place in
that city.
Now, it seems the issue is back to square one, and the ball in the Indian government’s court.
“It’s a times like this that the decisive
leadership of Dalmiya is severely missed. He never hesitated in playing
against Pakistan, unless the [Indian] government specifically
intervened,” Mani said, about the former BCCI president who passed away
recently.
“Dalmiya genuinely believed that cricket
was a tool in improving relations between Pakistan and India,” Mani, who
forged a formidable partnership with Dalmiya, emphasised.
To buttress his point of the significance
of people-to-people contact between India and Pakistan, Mani pointed out
the case of Geeta, the deaf and dumb girl, who inadvertently slipped
into Pakistan in 2003.
The world famous Edhi Foundation took her
under its wings and gave her the name, Geeta. This week, the foundation
formally handed over Geeta to the Indian government in New Delhi.
“Edhi’s gesture is not in handing over
Geeta, but in looking after her for all these years. In his [Edhi’s]
eyes, and that of millions of Pakistanis, Geeta was a fellow human being
who required love and care and Edhi provided it unconditionally,”
underlined Mani.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi
appreciated the Edhi Foundation’s work and announced a donation of Rs 1
crore for the body. However, the foundation politely declined the offer,
pointing to its established rules of not accepting donations from
governments.
“I am proud that Edhi declined the gesture
of Prime Minister Modi of Rs.10 million. Some things cannot be measured
in terms of money, just as the goodwill created between the people of
India and Pakistan. By playing cricket against each other, they do more
than any politician can ever do,” averred Mani.
“So, I strongly believe that the series
should take place as it is wonderful tool to create people to people
contact, and which is the need of the hour,” he stressed.
A chartered accountant by profession, Mani
was ICC president from 2003 to 2006. During his period he forged a
strong bond with the BCCI, particularly with Dalmiya, also a former ICC
president.
A chartered accountant by profession, Mani
first represented PCB in the ICC in 1989 and rose to become one of its
directors when he took the chair of the ICC Finance and Marketing
Committee in 1996. He chaired the committee until July 2002, when he
became the ICC vice-president. He also held several other posts in the
organisation.
Mani, who himself played club-level
cricket for many years in Rawalpindi, fondly remembers watching the
India-Pakistan Test series in 1954-55, when India toured Pakistan.
In an earlier interview with this writer,
Mani had said that one of his “most abiding memories” was India’s
legendary leg-spinner Subhash Gupte having Pakistan’s Maqsood Ahmed
stumped by wicket-keeper Naren Tamhane for 99 in the Lahore Test.
“I also remember admiring Dattu Phadkar’s
bowling. He was a great bowler, and Vinoo Mankad as a player — and Polly
Umrigar and G.S. Ramchand — tremendous Indian team, actually,” Mani had
said.