Narhari Amin quit as president of the Gujarat Cricket Association (GCA)on Saturday, bowing to the relentless demand from the rival group led by Minister of State for Home Amit Shah, for quitting on moral grounds. With this, comes an end to Amin’s 16-year stint as the chief of the state cricket body, clearing the way for Shah to take charge.

Though leaving on a sobering note, Amin said it was during his tenure that the debt-ridden GCA turned into “one of the most efficient cricketing organisations”.

Amin said when he assumed the control of GCA in 1993, it was in Rs 8 crore debt, but at the time of his leaving the charge, the body had a balance of Rs 40 crore even after spending Rs 48 crore on renovation of Motera stadium.

According to Amin, separate fund allocation was made to give boost to cricket-related activities in districts and to enable Motera stadium to offer round-the-clock cricket match facilities.

“Now that some of them (supporters from district associations) have parted ways and work separately, I resign from my post voluntarily with the satisfaction of having spared no effort to put GCA in its present glorious position,” he said.

On the other hand, members of the Amit Shah group said Amin had no option but to quit in the wake of losing support of majority associations With Amin’s resignation on Saturday, the rebellion that began on April 21, 2008 has culminated into an overhaul of leadership.

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