That was Mukherjee’s first brush with the Maidan. Six months after that loss, Mukherjee was installed by the CM and his cohorts in Lalbazar as the CAB boss after the national cricket board expelled Dalmiya. Completely alien to cricket politics then, Mukherjee’s first chance of proving a point came in February last year when Eden hosted an India-Sri Lanka one-day match. But a thunderstorm washed away the day-nighter and the CAB president was ripped apart for Eden’s poor drainage system.

To exorcise the ghosts, Mukherjee unfurled a Rs 100-crore infrastructure project, aimed at a total makeover of Eden. But the project lost steam and fell apart, thanks to a dispute over the tender process.

Then came a telling blow as Bengal cricket hit its nadir. A senior Bengal team that finished runners-up in two previous seasons in the prestigious Ranji Trophy crashed out of the national Elite Division last season. A red-faced Mukherjee administration had no answers, even as he was castigated for failing to stop key players from switching over to the rebel ICL.

He was again hounded by critics for allowing the Ganguly family to have too much say in matters of administration, but then got a chance to wipe the slate clean with the IPL this summer. Eden was to host seven matches of the Shah Rukh Khan-owned Kolkata Knight Riders and the IPL carnival promised windfall income.

But the jinxed team fared miserably in cricket’s new extravaganza. And Mukherjee & Co were in a soup after Eden’s floodlights went off during the opening IPL match.

... contd.