After a long time, the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) president today dropped in at the Eden Gardens’ BC Roy Club House office. And expectedly, Rizwanur Rehman’s mysterious death controversy dominated the former police commissioner’s press meet.

“I am here and I’ll be around, I can promise you that,” Mukherjee answered responding to questions on whether he was stepping down as the CAB president.

When the question on the Rizwanur episode was hurled at him, the new DG (telecom) deftly dodged the matter. “Not on this anymore, not here. Here, we will only talk about cricket, that’s it,” he said, signing off.

Even as pressure is mounting on him to relinquish the CAB top job, he made it clear that he is in no mood to step aside and make way for the Jagmohan Dalmiya lobby.

“These things, like criticism in the media, don’t play on my mind. I believe, I have done an onerous job here as the CAB president. We have to take both bouquets and brickbats,” Mukherjee said when asked about whether he was feeling the heat on the Maidan front.

Even as the CAB president was sending a strong message of defiance to the Dalmiya camp, he deftly switched into the lighter vein every now and then. “Sachin Tendulkar once said that he doesn’t read newspapers before a match. I guess, I also do the same,” he added.

Interestingly, after giving a detailed lowdown of the Indian cricket team’s upcoming two-day conditioning camp in Kolkata, Mukherjee admitted that as CAB chief, a great load is off his back, now that he is no longer the city police commissioner.