NEW Delhi, Sep 24 :
Former BCCI President, also one of the administrative giants in Indian football, Biswanath Dutt, passed away on Monday (September 24) in Kolkata after a lengthy bout with acute lung infection, at the age of 93.
Dutt had worked in the India Football Association from 1973-75 before switching to cricket by entering the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB), becoming the Secretary in 1977 and later, the President in 1982. He then went on to become the BCCI vice-president and held the position from 1980-81 to 1987-88 (barring the 1981-82 season). He then became the BCCI President in 1989 and served two complete terms from 1989 to 1991. Thereafter, he was the Chairman of the Trustee Board at CAB.
Apart from his invaluable contributions across several decades as an administrator in the field of cricket and football, one of Dutt’s biggest achievements was the unearthing of Jagmohan Dalmiya, who later took Indian cricket to a different level altogether.
“He was a legendary figure in sports administration. He served Indian cricket in various capacities and with elan. He was the President of CAB and BCCI, posts he held with distinguished accomplishment. His loss leaves a void hard to fill. My deepest condolence to the bereaved family. May they find strength in this dark hour,” said CAB President and former India skipper Sourav Ganguly.
According to Dutt’s son, Subrata Dutta, who is the senior Vice-President of the All India Football Federation, his condition had been fairly stable until a couple of weeks ago. “His illness began with urinary tract infection on September 10. In a week’s time, his lungs got severely infected with fluid accumulation and couldn’t recover anymore. His passed away at our (Bhowanipore) residence at 4.07 AM this morning. He would have turned 93 on October 10,” said Subrata to PTI.
Dutt, fondly known as ‘Bishu da’ in the sporting circles of Kolkata, had a near invincible stranglehold when it came to sports politics in the city. The popular word was that a person who had the great man’s support was virtually unbeatable in an election. Apart from Dalmiya, another fine administrator who was mentored by Dutt was former AIFF Secretary Ashok Ghosh, who is best known for conducting the famous Nehru Cup International. While Dalmiya learned the tricks of the trade as the CAB treasurer in 1977, Ghosh was the understudy to Dutt a year earlier at the Indian Football Association.
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