Sairaj Bahutule's sudden move criticised, called 'unethical'
Legspinner Sairaj Bahutule seems to have ruffled a few feathers with his decision to coach the Bengal Team. One of the foremost critics of this move has been Dilip Vengasarkar, the Vice President of the Mumbai Cricket Association. Vengasarkar found it unacceptable that Bahututle would accept the position just a fortnight after he was appointed the coach of the Mumbai U-23 team.
“To put it bluntly, Bahutule has been unethical in his approach, especially when we had appointed him for a salary that was agreed upon and he had been coaching the Under-23 squad for the last two weeks," Vengsarkar was quoted saying by ESPNcricinfo.
"At the MCA, we were happy when he showed a lot of interest in coming to Mumbai after his stint with Vidarbha and later Kerala as coach. We were keen to have as many former Mumbai players, captains under the same umbrella as we could, for they are very much aware of the work ethics of a Mumbai cricketer.
"That he would do something like this behind our back is unimaginable. If he wanted to coach a Ranji team, why did he leave Vidarbha and then Kerala, or was he asked to leave? If he is getting a job to coach a Ranji side, then would he leave the same team halfway through if he is offered to coach say Bangladesh or Zimbabwe? The whole episode has shown him in extremely poor light."
Vengasarkar is not the only one who feels that the situation could have been handled differently. The Bengal ex-coach, Ashok Malhotra, too did not see eye to eye with the way things were done. Regrettably, Malhotra found out about his ouster through the media, when Sourav Ganguly talked to reporters, rather than by personal communication.
"I could have been told by the CAB of their decision personally," Malhotra told the Telegraph, "As a former player who has represented the state and also a coach, would that be too much to expect? I learnt about my fate from the media, according to ESPNcricinfo. "I must say that I expected CAB to be more professional. There are no hard feelings, but yes, these things could certainly have been done in a better way."