Team India's 'lucky' manager Biswal named IPL chairman

Chennai: A witness to some of India’s most memorable triumphs in recent years, long-serving team manager Ranjib Biswal was today appointed chairman of the IPL in the Cricket Board’s AGM here. Biswal has been with the Indian cricket team through some of its most memorable triumphs, including the 2011 50-over World Cup win at home. Chief of the Odisha Cricket Association, Biswal’s appointment to replace Rajiv Shukla, who resigned at the end of his tenure, was made after a long deliberation at a city hotel. [caption id=“attachment_1140685” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  In Ranjib Biswal, the IPL has its third chairman since Lalit Modi was removed. Reuters[/caption] The decision to appoint the IPL chairman took the longest time in the Annual General Meeting, given that veteran Jagmohan Dalmiya’s name was doing the rounds before the AGM. But Dalmiya’s age, 73, would have put him at a disadvantage in the demanding job. The 43-year-old Biswal, however, would be better-equipped to deal with the week-after-week city-hopping during the IPL. Biswal was a part of the contingent that triumphed in the Champions Trophy in England close on the heels of the IPL-6 spot-fixing and betting scandal that rocked Indian cricket. The former Odisha cricketer was a team selector when the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led Team India to the first Twenty20 World Championships in 2007. Often seen as a ’lucky mascot’ for the national cricket team, the BCCI, rattled by the IPL spot-fixing allegations, has now turned to Biswal to ensure players maintain discipline and abide by strict rules of behaviour during the Champions Trophy earlier this year. Biswal, a former ‘permanent manager’ of the team who toured with the players for almost one and a half years till the 2011 World Cup, including tour to South Africa, ensured there was no unwanted attention on Dhoni and Co during the tournament in England a few months ago. The all-rounder has five first-class hundreds and 153 wickets in 41 matches and has also been the National Cricket Academy (NCA) chairman in the past. PTI