The Delhi & Districts Cricket Association (DDCA) is in the news again for all the wrong reasons as senior and U-25 men’s selector Mayank Sidana staged a walkout from a selection meeting following an altercation with chairman of selectors Gagan Khoda and secretary Siddharth Sahib Singh. As if that were not enough, the role of Delhi head coach Abhay Sharma is also in promoting specialist mid-range batsman Ayush Badoni to open his Ranji Trophy debut on a damp court against a domestic nestor like Jaydev Unadkat, also under the scanner.
Delhi’s 19-man squad has two specialist openers – Vaibhav Sharma and Salil Malhotra – currently in the team hotel as BCCI rule does not allow more than 15 players in the dressing room.
The senior Delhi team was on the verge of being knocked out for less than 20 against Saurashtra in Rajkot before managing 133 while Jaydev Unadkat got 8/39 including a record first-over hat-trick.
Khoda, a former national selector and secretary Verma, who is himself a former first-class player, counter-accused that Sidana was “trying to push questionable candidates” for the U-25 team that will play the CK Nayudu Trophy.
On Wednesday, there was a meeting to select the Delhi U-25 team by DDCA senior selection committee, and Sidana left the meeting without signing the selection form.
“Yes, I have protested against certain selections by chairman Gagan Khoda and other selector Anil Bhardwaj. Even secretary Siddharth Verma has not heeded my objections. So I did not sign the team sheet and walked away. Everything is caught on camera,” Sidana , who has played 30 first-class, 33 List A and 22 T20 games for Punjab, told PTI.
When asked what the bone of contention was, Sidana said, “Mr Khoda has not seen any of the U-25 trial matches and the other selector, Mr Bhardwaj, only wants one player in the team, Vikas Solanki.
“My claim was that when he got a chance in BCCI (U-25) tournaments before, his performance wasn’t great, but they insisted on going for trial results. I can’t support unfair practices.” When asked about Sidana’s allegations, Khoda, who played a few ODIs for India in 1998, was irate.
“I’ve played enough cricket and been a national selector too. I don’t want to humiliate myself by responding to Sidana’s allegations. I won’t say a word. You can go ask him why he left the meeting,” said Khoda. said.
But Khoda had no convincing answer as to why Badoni was forced to open on a difficult course when they sent two specialist openers, who are not even in 15.
“Look, we select a team and the coach selects the playing XI. We don’t interfere,” said Khoda.
When approached, DDCA Secretary Verma said there were no wrong selections.
“Mayank Sidana wanted a player named Gagan Vats. Vats, we can show scoresheets that Solanki scored more in trial matches. It was really a pity that he didn’t sign the selection sheet,” Verma, son of former Delhi CM late Sahib Singh Verma and the younger brother of BJP MP Pravesh Verma, said.
The other allegation leveled against Verma is that he did not allow former India pacemaker and U-25 coach Pankaj Singh to physically participate in the selection meeting.
“He was not allowed to attend the meeting because he did not have permission from the secretary to physically attend the discussions, despite the fact that his input as a coach was necessary,” a DDCA official told PTI on condition of anonymity.
Verma, who has played Ranji Trophy for Delhi and Railways, defended the move.
“We made a phone call with Pankaj and asked his opinion,” he said.
However, the DDCA secretary had no answer to some of the questionable calls from the head coach of the Ranji team.
Why are Vaibhav and Salil in the team hotel when they both opened for Delhi in U-19s and U-25s? Why is it that Himmat Singh, who recently joined the India Emerging team and was vice-captain until the last match, is being ousted? Why does Delhi play with only two specialist bowlers? There are too many questions that demand answers.
(This story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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