Gambhir skips practice, net session also cancelled

The ongoing fiasco at the Delhi & Districts Cricket Association (DDCA) deepened further on Tuesday, as the senior most player Gautam Gambhir kept himself away from the Ranji Trophy probables camp which started at the Feroz Shah Kotla ground on Monday.

Gatam Gambhir...skipping net practice.

The ongoing fiasco at the Delhi & Districts Cricket Association (DDCA) deepened further on Tuesday, as the senior most player Gautam Gambhir kept himself away from the Ranji Trophy probables camp which started at the Feroz Shah Kotla ground on Monday.

It has been learnt that Gambhir was advised by some of the top officials of the DDCA to not attend the session and the former India opener is reportedly awaiting the Sports Committee election results which is likely to set the house in order. Gambhir, who has been named captain in sports secretary Anil Jain’s list, supervised the practice session for two hours on Monday, even though he himself did not bat at the nets.

However, as has been the case with DDCA, the second day’s practice session ended with only light physical exercise under bowling coach Amit Bhandari after the practice pitches were found inappropriate for batting.

A senior DDCA official on conditions of anonymity said that Gambhir has been advised to stay away from the Ranji nets as it can lead to further controversy.

“In any case, there is a lot of controversy and confusion in the DDCA ranks. A very senior office-bearer has told Gautam personally to not come for practice for the time being. But there is a possibility that he might come on Wednesday if things are set in order,” the official told PTI.

Another major reason for Gambhir staying away is his own training is getting hampered because of having to look into the minute details of the practice.

“Look, the practice is going in a haphazard manner. Gautam’s own training schedule is getting disturbed. With just two weeks left for the first Ranji Trophy game against Rajasthan (October 2 in Jaipur), it is only fair that he focusses on his own training,” the official added.

Gambhir is currently doing net sessions at the Bharatnagar ground under his childhood coach Sanjay Bharadwaj.

Meanwhile, another senior DDCA official Ashoke Sharma, who has also given a list, said that the reason for there being no nets on Tuesday was due to poor practice pitches.

“The pitches were a bit damp and so there was no net session held. Players did a bit of exercise under assistant coach Amit Bhandari (named in the Chetan Chauhan faction’s list), who joined the training today. Gautam did not come today,” the DDCA executive committee member Sharma said. PTI