Former BCCI president Raj Singh Dungarpur has decided to end his long reign as the president of the Cricket Club of India (CCI) -- after 12 years at the helm.

"Yes, I have retired. It has been a very long innings, too long in fact. It has become very demanding and needs constant presence in the club," Dungarpur said from Pune.

Sources said that the veteran administrator has already informed the CCI executive committee that he will not seek re-election at the Annual General Meeting to be held next month.

There were some reports that Dungarpur could for another year, but he made it clear on Saturday that his stint as the president has ended.

The source also added Dungarpur made sure that only a person from the sporting fraternity or a sports-loving person would succeed him at the helm, before deciding to step down.

When asked about the succession procedure Dungarpur said: "It has all been settled amicably".

However, it is still not clear whether Dungarpur will continue to be CCI's representative in BCCI meetings. Some club sources indicated that he will continue to do so for another couple of years.

Dungarpur represented Rajasthan in first class cricket in the 1960's as a medium-pacer and played along former stars like Salim Durrani and the late Hanumant Singh. The veteran took over the reins of CCI in 1995 from another former Test cricketer, Madhav Apte.

During the course of his innings as CCI's chief Dungarpur also took over as BCCI's president's post from 1996-97 to 1998-99 before AC Muthiah replaced him in the apex cricket body of the country.

Under his guidance CCI, which lost its pre-eminence as a Test centre when international cricket action shifted to the Wankhede Stadium, regained that status by hosting matches, including the final of last year's ICC [Images] Champions Trophy.

This was a far cry from the days soon after the demise of the CCI's Brabourne Stadium as a regular Test match venue in 1972 when dog races and football (Rovers Cup) were held at the revered ground.

International cricket returned to CCI in the early 1990s when it hosted a couple of ODIs before it once again went into oblivion prior to hosting the Champions Trophy ties last season after the installation of floodlights.

CCI, which fields its team in the Mumbai Cricket Association-conducted Kanga League and other inter-club events, regularly held coaching camps for youngsters during Dungarpur's tenure.

At his initiative, CCI utilised the services of former Australian cricketers Bobby Simpson and Peter Philpot, besides ex-England stumper Bob Taylor, apart from the country's own former Test players Nari Contractor, Hanumant, Bishen Singh Bedi and Erapalli Prasanna to give help budding cricketers.