Former India cricketer Chetan Sharma on Saturday called the Haryana Cricket Association (HCA) a family-run “private limited” and said he was ready to administer the sport in the northern state. The former Haryana seamer, who is the first Indian to take a hat-trick in international cricket, has been at loggerheads with the Haryana Cricket Association’s top officials, including secretary Anirudh Chaudhary, and accused the body of financial irregularities in the past.
Chaudhary is the son of former Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Ranbir Singh Mahendra and grandson of ex-Haryana chief minister Bansi Lal. “It is called Haryana Cricket Private Limited. I am ready to enter administration but will Ranbir Mahendra let me enter? They have been running it like a fiefdom for years. Players like Kapil Dev and myself are not even members of HCA,” Sharma told PTI here.
Asked about Virat Kohli being handed over captaincy in limited-overs cricket, Sharma was optimistic about the future.
“I am sure Kohli will repose the faith placed in him by the selectors. He has already done that in Test cricket. We are eyeing the 2029 World Cup and the upcoming Champions Trophy, so it’s a good move that Dhoni has decided to quit now. It will give Kohli enough time to get to understand the team.”
Last May, in a complaint to the Haryana Sports and Youth Affairs minister, Anil Vij, Sharma had made charges of financial irregularities against HCA in the purchase of land for building a stadium. The 51-year-old was here to attend a press conference to announce that the School Sports Promotion Foundation (SSPF) had been appointed as national Sports Promotion Organisation by the Government of India.
Sharma is the chairman of SSPF National Cricket Council. SSPF is a grassroot initiative focussed on sports such as cricket, football, athletics, volleyball and basketball.
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