role is said to have been important, as the then ICC President Clyde Walcott was not in favor of discussing South Africa's re-admission to cricket. In November 1991, South Africa played their first international match since their suspension from international cricket in 1970, an ODI at the Eden Gardens in front of over 100,000 spectators. This match also marked South Africa's return to international sports ending their sporting boycott. In 1993, Dalmiya along with Bindra won a legal battle against broadcaster Doordarshan to sell the television rights of cricket matches in India. Doordarshan was ruled to require to pay the BCCI for the rights to televise Indian matches. In 1995, the rights were ruled by the Supreme Court of India as a commodity owned by the BCCI and could be sold to the highest bidder. The ruling allowed the BCCI generate more revenue and strengthened its position in the global marketplace. Dalmiya and the then BCCI President Madhavrao Scindia, secured the Indian subcontinent the hosting rights for the 1996 World Cup, turning the tables on the favorites England. The victory was described in The Times as, "Asian tiger twists Lord's by the tail." However, Australia and West Indies refused to play in terror-scarred Sri Lanka during the tournament. Dalmiya, who was then the Secretary of BCCI, created a united India-Pakistan team (called the Wills XI) in a matter of days to play a goodwill match against Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka. With a record-breaking deal for TV rights being signed for the World Cup, the tournament went on to become a major commercial success. In 1996, Dalmiya received 23 votes to 13 for Australia's Malcolm Gray in an election for Chairman's post of the ICC, but failed to attain the two-thirds majority necessary under the ICC Constitution. However, in 1997 he was unanimously elected President of the ICC (as the position had been renamed), the office of which he held for three years. He thus became the first Asian and the first non-cricketer at the helm of ICC. During his tenure as President, Dalmiya's support was instrumental in awarding Test status to Bangladesh. Bangladesh went on to play their first Test match in November 2000, against India at the Dhaka Stadium. He had also supported Bangladesh in winning the hosting rights of the first-ever ICC Knockout Trophy in 1998. He brought about a major overhaul in the ICC and is