Jammu and Kashmir cricket is in the news again, for wrong reasons. One of the four selectors, Dhruv Mahajan, resigned alleging interference by former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan in the state team’s selection process ahead of the season.
Pathan was brought in as a player and mentor for the senior side earlier this year. In his resignation sent to the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA) CEO, Aashiq Ali Bukhari, Mahajan said Pathan ‘interfered in the selection process, violating the constitution'.
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“Pathan should concentrate on his job and not make unnecessary interferences in the job of others. The BCCI constitution has made it amply clear that an individual cannot hold more than two posts and player is also considered as a post,” Mahajan said.
While Pathan was not available for a comment, JKCA CEO, Bukhari, told Sportstar that Mahajan’s resignation had nothing to with Pathan. “The new BCCI constitution suggests that a player needs a five-year cooling off before becoming a selector. And with Mahajan, that was the issue,” Bukhari said.
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Former Jammu and Kashmir captain Mahajan retired from first-class cricket in 2015, and technically stands ineligible to serve as a selector. “That’s the reason behind his resignation. There is nothing more to it,” Bukhari said, adding that the association is not thinking ‘too much’ about the allegations. “As a person, he can have his own view. But as far as the association is concerned, such allegations are not valid,” Bukhari, a former top cop, added.
The selection committee comprised Mahajan, Parvez Qaiser, Vidhya Bhaskar and Zahoor Bhat. “I am not in the state at the moment, so I don’t know exactly what has happened. I can only talk about it once I know the entire thing.” said selection committee chairman Qaiser.
The association is yet to name a squad for the Vijay Hazare Trophy.
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