Bose, who was in Mumbai last week to visit his ailing mother just as his resignation was announced, was unavailable to comment.

He joined the BBC after more than 10 years at the Daily Telegraph newspaper as a leading investigative sports journalist - a specialist in the growing field of sports business and politics, and 20 years before that with the Sunday Times.

He was also a familiar presenter on radio and television, including BBC Radio 4's Financial World Tonight and South Asia Report on BBC World Service.

Bose came to Britain from Mumbai in 1969 to study to become a chartered accountant but turned to journalism instead, starting his career at the London radio station LBC.

The author of 22 books on a variety of subjects, including a history of Indian cricket, he has won a number of awards including Business Columnist of the Year, Sports Story of the Year and Sports News Reporter of the Year.

When the BBC hired Bose it praised his 'encyclopaedic knowledge of sport, together with an unbridled passion for the subject... his ability to explain the most complex of stories and a fantastic catalogue of contacts'.

However, a Daily Mail columnist said, 'Bose, a top investigative journalist during his newspaper days, never mastered the art of live TV broadcasting.'

Bose's supporters said he had warned the England and Wales Cricket Board about doing business with jailed fraudster Allen Stanford in reports last year.