CIC threatens to resign after stand-off with DDCA over selection panel

The Delhi & District Cricket Association is on the verge of another showdown with its biggest stars.

The Delhi & District Cricket Association (DDCA) is on the verge of another showdown with its biggest stars. The Cricket Improvement Committee (CIC) with Bishen Singh Bedi,Kirti Azad,Surinder Khanna,Madan Lal and Maninder Singh as members has threatened to quit over repeated delay and pressure tactics by the DDCA top brass to include several individuals of their own choice,with allegedly tainted pasts,in the panel of selectors and as coaches for the Ranji Trophy and other age-group tournaments.

The CIC and DDCA members met for the first time to decide on the panel but,after a stormy two-hour meeting on Wednesday night,failed to arrive at any unanimity over the right members. CICs latest offensive comes when Delhi remains the only state to not even form a selection panel or call up probables ahead of the domestic season starting next month. Rajasthan has called two sets of probables while Plate teams like Tripura and Goa have already flown abroad for exposure trips. The CIC fear that the delay is a deliberate act of sabotaging their efforts and derailing the basic purpose of the cleaning up act.

We had agreed to work with the DDCA to help them improve their cricket but its now looking as if these people are looking to use us to serve their own ends. I must say that its extremely difficult to change anything in Delhi cricket,because everyone from top to bottom has his own vested interest and his own people to oblige. Its difficult to steer clear of the corruption and we have no option but to resign if it continues, says a member of the CIC.

According to sources,the five members of the CIC,who were entrusted with the responsibility of coming up with an appropriate panel using their vast experience and knowledge of the game,has sent a panel of selectors and coaches and subsequently a revised list,only to be shot down in totality by the DDCAs executive committee. Matters reached a boiling point when the DDCA came up with its own panel,for which they took nearly three weeks to arrive at a consensus amongst themselves while the CIC sent in repeated reminders. The DDCA panel included the same old faces who have been handling Delhi cricket for all these years without producing the desired results or commitment.

Interestingly,the disagreement between the CIC members and the DDCA seeps right up from the Ranji panel which the former is seeking to revamp,from chairman Chetan Chauhan and its previous members right down to the under-16 category with both parties differing on their choice of coaches and support staff. The DDCA isnt to keen to bow down to player power and is lobbying hard to retain several of its old-time faithfuls in handling key positions.

Amongst the names that remain contentious between the two factions include Rakesh Shukla,Vinay Lamba,Mahesh Bhatti,Raj Kumar Sharma,Devender Sharma,Bantoo Singh,Gursharan Singh,Raju Sharma,Mahesh Sharma,Hitesh Sharma,V Aravind,Gautam Vadhera,Atul Mohindra,Harpreet Singh,Maninder Singh Jaggi,Suresh Luthra,RS Dara,Srish Srivastav,Shivram Rai,MP Singh,Sashikanth Khurana and Pradeep Jain amongst others.

With the CIC rejecting the DDCA panel outright,there is still no sign of the DDCA announcing its panel for the season,and from the look of it,the suspense over the new set-up is getting murkier by the day.

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