It has been barely over a month since the Delhi and District Cricket Association elections took place and rumblings between the office bearers have started with the new president Rajat Sharma cracking the whip.
The newly elected honorary secretary of the association Vinod Tihara is reportedly frustrated and unhappy on being sidelined from major decisions that the new president has taken. The future of the star-studded Cricket Committee (CC) and that of government observer Gautam Gambhir too are uncertain. The newly appointed ombudsman, Justice Badar Durrez Ahmed, retired chief justice of Jammu and Kashmir High Court, has barely taken charge, and is already flooded with a slew of complaints regarding appointments of former cricketers as well as the junior and senior selection committee picked by the Cricket Committee. The CC is led by former India opener Virender Sehwag and includes former India cricketers Aakash Chopra and Rahul Sanghvi. Gambhir has been included in the committee as special invitee. He is presently a government observer appointed by the Union government. He is also a current player.
The Cricket Committee, after announcing the names of the selection committee members for senior and junior men's and women's teams, has also interviewed 70 persons for the post of coaches and coaching staff as well as support staff for nine teams. A section of disgruntled officials gave the impression that there are serious differences between the Cricket Committee members over names of coaches.
However, it later transpired that the CC, after interviewing, had decided to go through a proper procedure and due diligence before coming to a final decision. “The season is about to start, camps have to start and therefore it was necessary to appoint selectors first. The committee has barely taken charge, needs to have thorough discussions amongst themselves on way forward and plan and process, look at what the previous committee did and take into account continuity and parameters in place. The coach, therefore, cannot be appointed in a rush; nearly 50 appointments have to be finalised,” said a well placed source. Names of former India team manager Lalchand Rajput and former Delhi skipper Mithun Manhas have been doing the rounds as front runners.
Those unhappy with being sidelined and are opposing Sharma's decisions have complained to the ombudsman about conflict of interest of CC members. On the last count, 11 complaints by various DDCA members and members of executive committee, have been made to Justice Badar Durez Ahmed. While the disgruntled elements have complained against appointment of the likes of Virender Sehwag, citing conflict of interest, other written complaints are on Gambhir's role in the committee while he is a current player.
Reportedly, a disgruntled Tihara even made his angst known to former DDCA president and Union minister Arun Jaitley, but nothing has come off it. Sharma has been taking several decisions which have not gone down well with elected executive committee members as that limits their direct role and interference in matters related to cricket and administration. A CEO, CFO and GM operations has already been appointed—interviews for these took place in the new DDCA president's office rather than in DDCA.
In a move to mollify the disgruntled elements, Sharma has announced formation of six sub committees—stadium and infrastructure committee, players' welfare committee, special events committee, restaurant committee, bar committee and gym committee. The stadium infrastructure and player welfare includes the miffed DDCA secretary while Gambhir is also included in the latter. However, it has been made clear that DDCA will be appointing an agency soon for e-tendering services and the role of these committees is only advisory. A players association is yet to be formed and once it is, the players' representatives will be part of the welfare committee. Gambhir is present as of now in his capacity as government observer in the committee.