Former BCCI secretary Amitabh Choudhary passed away during the wee hours of Tuesday, August 16, the Jharkhand State Cricket Association officials confirmed. Choudhary, who was 58, held a leadership role within the JSCA for more than a decade and also rose to become the BCCI’s joint secretary. During the Committee of Administrators’ (CoA) regime in the cricket board, he also served as their acting secretary.
Choudhary was instrumental in making Ranchi the headquarters of Jharkhand cricket, shifting the base from Jamshedpur. He ensured that a world-class stadium was built there during his tenure and one end of the stadium was even named after him.
A former IPS, Choudhary was a political enigma, whose main passion was the sport of cricket. He was the Indian team manager during India's tour of Zimbabwe in 2005-06, a tour that marked the beginning of the Sourav Ganguly-Greg Chappell fallout.
Later, working under the CoA in the BCCI, he faced tougher administrative challenges. He also had to deal with the Virat Kohli-Anil Kumble saga that saw the latter’s acrimonious exit as India coach.