Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s passion and love for cricket, ‘Captain’ Sourav Ganguly in particular, was well documented during his days at the helm of Bengal politics.

The former chief minister passed away at his residence on Thursday morning after a prolonged illness. He was 80.

Tales about how Bhattacharjee would often keep on hold important meetings at Writers’ Buildings to watch Sourav bat are illustrious and he was never ready to accept any criticism of the former India captain.

Buddhababu, as he was called, was livid when Rahul Dravid was made captain and Sourav got dropped from the ODI team in November 2005 following a feud with then coach Greg Chappell.

The circumstances also led to a bitter relationship with the then Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) president Jagmohan Dalmiya. It culminated in an acrimonious election to wrest control of the CAB in July 2006 with the state government pitting the then commissioner of police, Prasun Mukherjee, against him.

Dalmiya, however, defeated Mukherjee 61-56 to retain his post despite the state machinery working against him. A day after the elections, a fuming Bhattacharjee proclaimed that this was a “triumph of evil over good”.

The lead-up to the elections was murky with Dalmiya determined to fight for his last piece of turf after having lost his supremacy at the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) a year earlier to Sharad Pawar. Bhattacharjee had even advised Dalmiya to steer clear of the contest.

Former chief minister Jyoti Basu had also strongly disapproved of Bhattacharjee’s public outburst when he demanded, “I want Dalmiya to leave”. But why did he turn against the CAB chief?

It was believed that Sourav’s proximity to Dalmiya had resulted in his incurring the wrath of the new regime at the BCCI and the chief minister felt a change of guard at the CAB could work in the former captain’s favour.

There was also another theory that Dalmiya’s business interests in the state had irked Bhattacharjee.

“Except for that brief period, the ruling CPM never interfered in the running of the CAB,” Biswarup Dey, a former CAB joint secretary and Dalmiya confidant, recalled.

Whatever it was, the former chief minister never visited Eden Gardens till Dalmiya remained president.