In a move that raised eyebrows across Kolkata’s Maidan community, Jagmohan Dalmiya threw an unusually lavish party at a popular city club to apparently celebrate his victory in the CAB elections last month.
Inviting over members and select representatives from almost all the voting units and clubs affiliated to the CAB, the Dalmiya-led administration played host to a gala evening bash at the Calcutta Club on Sunday.
The party took place on the eve of the new administration’s first working committee meeting, slated for Monday at Eden Gardens. And the unusual move is being seen by many Maidan pundits as more than just a goodwill gesture from Dalmiya & Co.
Says a prominent ex-Bengal player: “This is the first time Dalmiya has thrown a party like this. Considering that all voting units have been invited over, it certainly looks like a post-election thanksgiving party.”
Some other Maidan veterans suspect that with annual elections to the CAB assuming a whole new dimension in recent years, the current administration’s “party” is a vote-winning “stunt”, a “feel-good move” to snuff out opposition in the Maidan and woo more supporters.
Meanwhile, for the first time ever, the senior Bengal cricket team is likely to get an elaborate two-man or three-man coaching unit, instead of sticking to the traditional single-coach system.
It’s been a few days now since Mohinder Amarnath is learnt to have pulled out of the race for the Bengal coach’s job. And with two and a half months left for the Ranji Trophy Plate round to begin, Dalmiya & Co are seriously dabbling with the idea of appointing Goutam Shome Junior, Devang Gandhi and Utpal Chatterjee as the three advisory coaches of the senior state side.
The names of the three Maidan veterans have been doing the rounds ever since the CAB’s talks with Amarnath began to fall out.
On the eve of the first working committee meeting under the new Dalmiya-led administration, the grapevine has it that while Shome Jr is tipped to be the head coach of the Bengal team, Utpal could become the bowling consultant and Devang could be given charge of the batting front.
After Dalmiya defeated Prasun Mukherjee last month to become the CAB president, he had straightaway approached Amarnath for the top job, with last season’s coach Bharathi Arun quietly pulling out of the race after Laxmi Ratan Shukla & Co crashed out of the Ranji Trophy Elite Group.
However, the architect of India’s 1983 World Cup win reportedly sought a whopping contract — he wanted to be compensated for forgoing commentary assignments — and the CAB is unwilling to cough up an astronomical sum for the Bengal job.
Soon after Amarnath’s case began to appear bleak, the CAB started toying with the idea of appointing a local coach. And the idea picked up momentum after skipper Shukla and a few other senior players suggested the name of Goutam Shome Jr.
Taking a cue from the suggestion, Dalmiya & Co consulted a number of former Bengal cricketers on this issue, and eventually zeroed in on two other names — Utpal Chatterjee and Devang Gandhi, looking out for specific-role coaches from the local pool of prospective candidates.
Mumbai Under-19 coach Sulakshan Kulkarni and veteran Bhaskar Pillai, too, have been in the fray till recently, but their cases haven’t proceeded further.