Former ICC chief Jagmohan Dalmiya dies at 75

C. RAJSHEKHAR RAO, AP Sports Writer

NEW DELHI (AP) — Jagmohan Dalmiya, a top sports administrator credited with making India a major financial power in cricket, has died. He was 75.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India president and former International Cricket Council chief was admitted to a hospital in Kolkata on Thursday following a cardiac arrest. He died on Sunday due to internal bleeding, according to hospital officials.

The BCCI praised Dalmiya's contribution to the sport.

"As a visionary and a father figure of Indian cricket, Mr. Dalmiya worked toward the development of the game of cricket in India," BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur said in a statement. "The cricketing fraternity will miss him dearly."

Dalmiya was credited with getting big money into Indian cricket in the 1990s, when as BCCI secretary he managed to start selling TV rights to private sports channels.

"Mr. Dalmiya played a significant part in positioning Indian cricket at the global level and the astute administrator in him guided Indian cricket to greater heights. His untiring efforts will be remembered for generations to come and his contribution to Indian cricket will remain unparalleled," Thakur said.

Dalmiya was also credited with helping bring the cricket World Cup to India in 1987 and 1996.

Dalmiya was ICC president from 1997 to 2000 and BCCI president from 2001 to 2004.

Dalmiya returned as BCCI chief this year after a decade away. He was a consensus candidate following the spot-fixing allegations during the 2013 Indian Premier League, which forced out Narainaswamy Srinivasan on a Supreme Court directive.

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi and leading cricketers in the country, including retired batting great Sachin Tendulkar, were among those to pay tribute to Dalmiya.

"Heartfelt condolences to the family & friends of Jagmohan Dalmiya," Tendulkar tweeted. "Had met him in June. little did I realise that it would be the last."

The ICC expressed its "deepest condolences."