BCCI needs to crack the whip against Hyderabad Cricket Association

If the city is known for rich culture and supreme talent that produced a cream of famous cricketers in the past, Hyderabad is now in the news for all the wrong reasons.

Hyderabad: Legends like Ghulam Ahmed, BC Khanna, ML Jaisimha and others must be turning in their graves as the continuous unsavoury and reprehensible incidents have made the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) the butt of needless criticism in sports circles. The bitter slug-fest between the two factions has indeed sunk HCA to a very despicable new low. The HCA system is polluted and best possible way to resolve is for the cricket Board to intervene and run the show like the Rajasthan and Jammu & Kashmir Associations.

If the city is known for rich culture and supreme talent that produced a cream of famous cricketers in the past, Hyderabad is now in the news for all the wrong reasons. But one thing for sure, it can’t get more unpleasant than this.

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As one cricketer said HCA politics is worse than the Indian political system and is a milking cow for a few members. “It needs all the tricky trade to hoodwink others to stay in power and the biggest villain of piece is the huge fund that has been flowing in HCA treasury from the BCCI in the last couple of years. That a few of them been named in the anti-corruption cases is an indication that how badly the funds have been misused,’’ said a cricketer.

Mohammed Azharuddin, to some extent, has been right by asking where did the funds disappear in the last 25 years. Even as other associations have constructed beautiful grounds and stadiums with the BCCI funds the HCA boasts of one big achievement and that of a stadium in Uppal where the torn canopies present an ugly sight as they are yet to be repaired since two years.

As a marriage of convenience, these set of people fight the election as one group before they end up in a bitter fight within a few months of their election to the power. This has been a regular feature, resulting in dirty linen being washed in public.

Apart from the alleged misappropriation of the funds, there has been of foul play in selection of players with merit taking a backseat. Hyderabad has been struggling in all formats of the game. Two years ago, they had the worst Ranji Trophy season losing six matches out of eight league matches.

In the present volatile exchange of show-cause notices between president Azharuddin and the five Apex Council members has become a big joke with both groups asserting that they are controlling the administration.

Azharuddin said the appointment of Justice (retd) Deepak Verma has been the focal point of the present crisis as his report could damage the stakes of the multiple clubs owners. “These multiple clubs owners wield power because of this. So the best way is to give one voting power if one has six or seven clubs. It will to a great extent end this vicious scheming. Unless you stop the multiple clubs menace, HCA cannot improve,’’ said a club secretary.

But Vijayanand group allege that Azharuddin too misused his power particularly in selection matters. “He even rang up the coaches to play his players.’’

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