In a stunning turnaround, former ICC chief Jagmohan Dalmiya has wrested the top job in Indian cricket from AC Muthiah, the incumbent president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India. Dalmiya, who seemed to have lost the numbers game in the hectic countdown to a bitter showdown, won the straight contest, held in Chennai, by a margin of four votes. Muthiah, who was seeking a third one-year term, managed only 13 votes, down five from the 18 he expected, while Dalmiya garnered 17.

There was minor consolation for Muthiah as he managed get his candidate, Niranjan Shah, elected to the crucial post of Board secretary, at the expense of Jaywant Lele, whose foot-in-mouth approach had been a source of constant entertainment to the media. Shah and Lele were tied at 15 votes each, but Muthiah's casting vote swung it in Shah's favour.

There were 30 votes at stake – 29 state associations plus the president – after Goa were prevented from voting on the basis of opinion given by legal advisor Nalini Chidambaram.

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