Revolt breaks out in DDCA

Ten Delhi and District Cricket Association managing committee members have joined hands to oust president Rajat Sharma.

Published : Apr 22, 2019 21:19 IST , new delhi

Ten members of the MC have come together and divested Rajat Sharma of his powers as the president, in a move that is expected to have wider ramifications.
Ten members of the MC have come together and divested Rajat Sharma of his powers as the president, in a move that is expected to have wider ramifications.
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Ten members of the MC have come together and divested Rajat Sharma of his powers as the president, in a move that is expected to have wider ramifications.

The Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) is back to square one with the Managing Committee (MC) staging a revolt against its president Rajat Sharma, who was elected to the post with an overwhelming margin in July last year.

Ten members of the MC have come together and divested Sharma of his powers as the president, in a move that is expected to have wider ramifications. A discerning observer alleged it was a ploy masterminded to avert the expulsion of a prominent member known to have fallen out of favour with Sharma for his indiscipline.

Sharma had been steadfastly resisting moves from a section of the MC to “compromise” on certain issues like selections in various age groups, the appointment of officials without a “proper process” and payments to their “favourites.”

Vested interest

A member of the Sharma group told Sportstar that managing the affairs at the DDCA had become “untenable” with the current crop of officials. They all have “vested interests and don't have any love for the game.”

The MC is insisting on having its own choice of Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) to pick the selectors and coaches without any interviews, in direct contrast to the process adopted by Sharma and his predecessor Justice (Retd) Vikramajit Sen. “This will hurt the entire process of transparency and credibility in cricket matters,” said a veteran official.

Showdown

Interestingly, the members who have come together have in the past lodged legal complaints against each other. “They want to withdraw the cases because all their efforts to run the DDCA on their whims and fancy have been choked by the current president. They are trying to hold the DDCA president to ransom. That is not going to happen with Sharma who has introduced a fair method of administration. The DDCA made a profit of Rs 5 crore from the India-Australia ODI match. Some people are eyeing that amount,” said an official.

Sharma, however, has the support of the three Government observers, who have refused to be part of the development. Even the state selectors are willing to back Sharma having suffered pressure from some of these MC officials to pick some “undeserving” players in the last season.

It is understood that the recent differences have cropped up because some directors wanted to harass the IPL franchisee just before the match in order to “extract more tickets.”

Sharma did not encourage such a move. The disgruntled members then insisted on “renegotiating” the contract with the IPL franchisee with just two matches to go this season.

Sharma is headed for a showdown with the MC and is said to be unwilling to make any compromise. Observers also expect the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the Committee of Administrators (CoA) to step in because power should not go into “wrong” hands.

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