Vadodara: Jaywant Lele, the diminutive former BCCI secretary during whose tenure the match-fixing scandal broke out in 2000, passed away at his residence here following a massive heart attack.
Lele breathed his late yesterday night. He was 75 and is survived by his wife, a son and a daughter.
The outspoken Lele, who served as BCCI's assistant secretary and later took over the reins as the secretary when Jagmohan Dalmiya became the president of the International Cricket Council in 1996, had celebrated his 75th birthday on
September 13.
"He had celebrated his 75th birthday with his friends. It is very unfortunate. He was like a father to me. I always used to consult him on various issues. He had guided me from the age of 12," former India stumper Nayan Mongia, who was close to him, said.
Lele, who had written an autobiography on his career as a cricket administrator, was not well on his birthday as he was suffering from a viral infection.
"He suffered a massive heart attack when he went to the bathroom before going to sleep. He was escorted to the bed but he passed away," family sources said.
A qualified umpire and a club level cricketer, Lele later graduated to BCCI ranks and then rose to become its secretary during one of the most turbulent period in Indian cricket.
It was during his tenure as the BCCI secretary that the Board first set up the Justice Chandrachud commission toenquire into match-fixing charges and then asked the CBI to probe the charges after former South African captain Hansie
Cronje admitted to fixing matches, got banned for life. Cronje had named several cricketers around the world, including Mohammad Azharuddin.
The match-fixing scandal led to the life ban imposed by the Board on Azharuddin and Ajay Sharma and five-year bans on Ajay Jadeja and Manoj Prabhakar.
