HCA row: Did Anwar retire from game to become a selector?

Hasty and unwise decision could put HCA in a spot as rebellion grows

Hyderabad: Perhaps in all anxiety, a desperate Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) may have blundered by naming left-arm seamer Anwar Ahmed as one of the two selectors even though there are reports that he has still not retired from the game officially. This could be a violation of the BCCI rules, the Lodha Committee reforms and the HCA constitution. First of all appointing Arvind Shetty and Ahmed as two selectors for this Vijay Hazare one-day tournament was a serious mistake as it did not have the approval of the Apex Council. Even in the old constitution HCA had four selectors for any selection matter and later on a fifth selector was added.

Former secretary and veteran administrator PR Man Singh said it has been a practice since the 50s to have four to five selectors. “We never deviated from this practice of having at least four or five selectors as we thought there could be free and fair selection,’’ he said.

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But Wednesday’s decision to select the State team with two selectors is one of darkest phases of the HCA. It broke all the norms and traditions of what was once a Gentleman’s game. A fuming joint secretary Naresh Sharma pointed out that he repeatedly had been reminding secretary R Vijayanand of the impending selection and the necessity to have five selectors. “The president (Mohd Azharuddin) and secretary did not pay heed to my advice,’’ he said.

Suddenly Azharuddin and Vijayanand woke up from their slumber and named the team with two selectors after Shivaji Yadav, Abhinav Kumar, Ahmed Quadri and Habeeb Ahmed refused to accept the post. The first three were part of the ad-hoc three-member selection committee that picked the T20 Mushtaq Ali tournament. There is something seriously wrong with the system as four of them denied the posts. That secretary Vijayanand made frantic calls to former players to accept the selectors’ posts, reflecting clearly the sad state of affairs in the association.

According to Sharma, who has been successfully conducting the leagues and one-day tournaments in the Covid-19 pandemic period, said this latest selection has created anger among the club secretaries. “I feel sad for the aggrieved players. This is nothing but foul play. For instance players like Abhirath Reddy (694 runs from five matches, 5×100), Junaid Ali (704 runs from seven matches, 3 centuries), Varun Goud (690 runs including two double centuries), Rohit Rayudu (741 runs from 8 matches 3×100), left arm spinner Aniketh Reddy (30 wickets from six matches), leg spinner G Arjun (45 wickets from five matches) and a few others have been overlooked and non-performers have got a place in the team. These performing players could have walked into any State team. But sadly they are overlooked here for obvious reasons,’’ he said.

RM Bhaskar, secretary of Balaaji Cricket Club, said these biased selections are basically because a few of the club secretaries are directly or indirectly associated with multiple clubs. “They wield great influence not only in elections but also in selections of players to represent HCA at BCCI conducted tournaments,’’ an angry Bhaskar said.

He added: “By virtue of their association with multiple clubs and their positions in Apex Council they are also influencing the selection process by getting their own undeserving players of their teams selected to represent HCA and thereby ruining the careers of promising and talented players with exceptional performances.’’

Bhaskar said they expected Azharuddin to bring a change for good in HCA. “But the players continue to suffer even with the former Indian captain being at the helm of affairs. It’s unfortunate that nepotism and favouritism continue to rule the roost in selection of players for the state,’’ he concluded.

Former secretary T Shesh Narayan said the selection of the Vijay Hazare team on Wednesday is a big fraud. “The elected office bearers are making huge mockery of the system. It is time BCCI reacts strongly to save the game in Hyderabad,’’ he said.

Also read:

Selection row: Complaint lodged against Hyderabad Cricket Association

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