KOLKATA: Jagmohan Dalmiya, the former ICC and BCCI chief, has agreed in principle to contest the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) elections at the end of this month, marking his first attempt at returning to cricket administration after resigning from the same post in December 2006.

Dalmiya said he was pressurised by existing members of the CAB to contest the polls, though he is yet to formally give his consent.

“I’ve agreed to contest in the CAB poll after the members came and pressurised me,” Dalmiya was quoted as saying in the Indian Express. “They requested me to fight for the betterment of CAB and I could not say no to them. The official announcement will be made in due course. Let me settle down first.”

Dalmiya is however currently caught in a court case filed by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai police for alleged embezzlement of funds during the 1996 World Cup. The hearing, originally adjourned for June 16, was later adjourned to December 29 after his lawyers had asked for more time to study the case.

He said the case wouldn’t deter his ambitions of returning to cricket administration. “I’m more determined now,” he said. “It seems a real possibility to come back to cricket administration.”

Dalmiya headed the CAB for 13 years before being expelled from the BCCI over the embezzlement case. He resigned as the CAB president and Prasun Mukherjee, Kolkata’s police commissioner, took over. Mukherjee is reportedly under fire for Bengal’s ordinary performance in the Ranji Trophy after they were relegated from the Elite Group last season.