Delhi selection committee faces the sack after humbling innings loss to Saurashtra in Ranji Trophy
The Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) senior selection committee has been shown the door by the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) following a scathing letter by president Rohan Jaitley. The Yash Dhull-led side faced a mammoth innings and 214-run loss against Saurashtra in their most recent Ranji Trophy encounter.
Among the dismissed members were Gagan Khoda, who also had a stint as a selector for the national side, Mayank Sidhana, and Anil Bhardwaj.
DDCA president Rohan Jaitley wrote to the CAC, highlighting the selectors' incompetence towards the team's cricket. Upon receiving and reviewing the letter, the selectors were dismissed a few hours later. Confirming that the selectors have been sacked, DDCA director Shyam Sunder told the Indian Express:
“The selection committee has been sacked by the CAC today."
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Highlighting the lack of planning and the 'scant commitment' towards the goal of improving the side's state and quality of cricket, Rohan Jaitley wrote in his letter to the CAC:
“Despite giving free hand and full support I am pained to note that the selection committee has failed to do any good for the players of Delhi in general and the team in particular."
He continued:
"There is an absolute lack of planning for Delhi Cricket is apparent on the face of it more so with regard to the vision and future course as discussed and planned for the long-term goals set out by the management with an objective to bring back the lost glory of Delhi cricket. It is unfortunate that the Selection Committee has shown scant commitment to the same."
Delhi are in a perilous state in the ongoing Ranji Trophy season at the moment. They sit in seventh position in Elite Group B and are yet to secure a win so far despite having played four matches already.
Their white-ball campaigns also did not go as per plan, with poor and constant selection changes as well as abysmal injury management not helping their cause. They reached the quarter-finals of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, losing to Vidarbha by one run and finishing sixth in their group during the Vijay Hazare trophy.
Mayank Sidhana had walked out of a meeting after a fallout with members of the Delhi selection committee
Yash Dhull and co. were hapless in their most recent Ranji Trophy contest and were reduced to 5-6 in the first innings courtesy of a first-over hat-trick by Jaydev Unadkat.
The tactic of exposing debutant Ayush Badoni to the veteran left-arm seamer on a testing track was not met well within the management.
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The senior selection committee of the DDCA, including former national selector Gagan Khoda, was sacked late on Thursday after the team's humiliating innings and 214-run defeat against Saurashtra.
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Things took a turn for the worse after an apparent mutiny in the selection camp. Mayank Sidhana walked out of a meeting, which was scheduled to select the U-25 squad. Following disagreements with chief Gagan Khoda and secretary Siddharth Sahib Singh, he did not sign the team sheet and made his exit.
Blaming Sidhana for the disruption in the system, Khoda told the Indian Express:
“I have never played in Delhi and I am a person who has got no agenda. But when I saw him (Sidana) taking just one name repeatedly, it amused me and the rest of the people in the meeting. I fail to understand why he walked out."
Do you see Delhi cricket rising to the top anytime soon upon clearing the current messy state? Let us know what you think.