By IANS
New Delhi : Former Indian cricket board president Jagmohan Dalmiya has questioned the motive behind the lapsed $70 million bank guarantee that led to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) suffering a Rs.25 million loss.
"The guarantee was in possession of Board treasurer N. Srinivasan but was not renewed. It lapsed in May 2007 and just weeks later Zee Telefilms cancelled the contract," said the former BCCI strongman in an interview to Tehelka magazine, to be published in its Aug 4 issue.
Speaking after winning a reprieve from the Calcutta High Court against his expulsion from the BCCI, Dalmiya has laid the blame for the mess the world's richest cricket board find itself in squarely on BCCI president Sharad Pawar.
"I have been through hell. And I am willing to do anything to clear my name," said Dalmiya, who also served a two-year term as president of the International Cricket Council.
Having been hounded out from even the Cricket Association of Bengal, Dalmiya has told the magazine that he intends to continue fighting the BCCI and its current office bearers.
"The BCCI president's chair is not for the asking. I am not aiming for the president's chair. But if that is the route through which I have to silence critics, I will go for it," the magazine quotes the veteran administrator as saying.
But Dalmiya has ruled out joining hands with the breakaway Indian Cricket League.
"I do not have to look at ICL to settle scores with the BCCI. To get on to a parallel board and fight the BCCI is not my cup of tea," he told Tehelka.