Hyderabad, November 05: The pathetic and humiliating performance of the Hyderabad Cricket Team in the Ranji Trophy tournament has put the Hyderabad Cricket Association under the scanner.
It may be mentioned here that the Hyderabad Cricket Team in a shameful and shocking performance lost to Rajasthan by an innings and 236 runs at Jaipur in the ongoing Ranji Tournament. This triggered a wave of protests and concern over the selection of the team as a player’s performance seems to have been ignored while favoritism and nepotism ruled the roost.
The Hyderabad Team’s unimaginable performance has also stirred the hornet’s nest and rumblings started gaining momentum in the sporting circles over the day-to-day affairs of the Hyderabad Cricket Association which is seeped in group politics. The decision of the Chief Coach, Mr Venkatapathi Raju, and the Batting Coach, Mr Vivek Jaisimha, to quit has only added to the raging cry that all is not well with HCA.
Now doubts are also being raised over the affairs of the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium at Uppal which is under the control of Hyderabad Cricket Association. Despite the hype and claim being made about the state of the art facilities being available and provided in the stadium for international games, Hyderabad has not been considered as a venue for important matches.
One of the reasons for Hyderabad being ignored for international tournaments seems to be lack of required infrastructural facilities. As a matter of fact, there has been a hue and cry in sporting circles about alleged irregularities in the construction of the stadium for which crores of rupees have been spent.
As a matter of fact, there has been a demand for a thorough probe into the alleged large-scale irregularities in the construction of the cricket stadium. Now the pathetic performance of the cricket team seems to have incensed the need for an inquiry into the affairs of the Rajiv Cricket Stadium and Hyderabad Cricket Stadium. Informed sources did not rule out the possibility of the Vigilance and Enforcement Department launching a thorough investigation not only to unearth the rot that has seeped into the HCA but also to bring to book any one involved in corrupt practices in the construction of the cricket stadium.
——–NSS