Sachin Baby, who led Kerala to the quarterfinals of the Ranji Trophy for the first time last year, is facing rebellion from his own teammates, who have taken the extraordinary step of asking the Kerala Cricket Association that a new captain is appointed prior to the start of the new season.
The letter signed by 13 players, though 15 names have been listed, submitted to the KCA, early, this month, and accessed by Sportstar , says, “This is a matter of serious concern for our team, which is looking ahead to a new season with very high hopes. All the team members would like to represent the fact that the attitude of our captain, Sachin Baby, towards the players is detrimental to the success of the team."
“He is selfish, arrogant, temperamental and behaves in an authoritarian way, (when the team wins, he takes credit, and when the team loses, he puts the blame on the players) all the time. All the team members are very much disturbed, demoralised, hurt and are losing focus. Moreover, it is disheartening to note that he is also talking in the back of the players and also speaking ill of a player to another, which is not at all good for the team,” the letter alleges.
Further, the letter goes on to add: “The team reached the quarterfinal stage (of the Ranji Trophy) last year only because of the committed effort of the players and coaches. A few of the committed youngsters have moved out of our State to represent other States this year, only because of the harassment meted out to them by the captain last year."
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“We all feel that our team is having immense potential to reach beyond the semifinal stage of all the tournaments. All the members of our team feel that the captaincy may be changed, which will in the best interest of our team. Hence, we urge the team management to request the office-bearers (of the KCA) and selectors to find an alternate person, who could lead the team in a much professional way.”
The letter addressed to the KCA secretary has been signed by Abhishek Mohan, K.C. Akshay, K.M. Asif, Fabid Farooque, V.A. Jagadeesh, Mohammed Azharuddin, M.D. Nidheesh, V.G. Raiphi, Rohan Prem, Sandeep Warrier, Sanju V. Samson, Salman Nizar and Sijomon. Though included in the list, the letter does not bear the signature of P. Rahul and Vishnu Vinod.
While the KCA secretary, Sreejith V. Nair and the chairman of the senior selection committee, Sunil Kumar, was not immediately available, sources within the KCA, who acknowledged receipt of the letter, said that a meeting of all players will be convened as soon as it completes its engagements in the Captain Thimmaiah memorial KSCA Trophy, now, in progress in Bengaluru, before a final decision is taken.
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