HCA names three-member cricket advisory committee at AGM

The three-member committee includes former India left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha and former cricketer, J Shivaji Yadav and former women's cricketer Rajani Venugopal

HYDERABAD: The annual general meeting (AGM) of the Hyderabad Cricket Association at Rajiv Gandhi Stadium here on Sunday named a cricket advisory committee with former India left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha and two other former cricketers.

The other members of the CAC include former Ranji cricketer J Shivaji Yadav and the former women’s cricketer Rajani Venugopal.

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However, it is not clear whether Ojha will accept this role given his international commitments, including his tv commentary assignments.

The AGM also proposed names to be picked for the Junior selection committee comprising former Ranji cricketers B Sandeep (54 matches), T Suman (38 matches), Ashish Reddy (22 matches), NP Arjun (23 matches), Zakir Hussain (24 matches), Inder Sekhar Reddy (16 matches) and Md Khader (16 matches).

However, the names are subject to the approval of Justice (Retd) Naveen Rao, who has been appointed by the Telangana High Court to conduct the leagues and name the selection committees.
Interestingly, only two names from the above panel are eligible as per the norms, which mandate that selectors should have played at least 25 Ranji games.

Importantly, the meeting began with the HCA top brass announcing that they got a call from the Telangana Chief Minister, A Revanth Reddy, that the State government had decided to allot 100 acres of site for a new cricket stadium.

This was countered by two Congress MPs from Bhongir and Khammam who said that unless the HCA presents a united face, the Chief Minister will not entertain anything from them.

The AGM also finalised the committee for the leagues, umpires, grounds and anti-corruption.

The AGM also approved a proposal from the top brass of the Institutions who attended the meeting to permit those players who are paid a stipend to play for institutions in the leagues. As of now, a minimum of seven permanent employees of an institution are mandatory in a team to take part in the league.

There were not many dissenting voices at the AGM, and it seemed understandable as the Apex Council at its last meeting had decided to give Rs 5 lakhs to each affiliated club in two instalments, said one of the senior members of HCA who attended today’s meeting.

Even those who talked big about raising critical issues were apparently silent, and consequently, the AGM passed off peacefully.