When word got out yesterday that the DDCA’s Sports Committee had recommended removal of Chetan Chauhan as selector and Madan Lal as coach, this reporter called up committee convenor Vinod Tihara for a reason why. His answer: Chauhan’s nephew and Madan Lal’s son are in contention for Ranji berths, so the committee felt it would be a conflict of interest.Tihara has put his foot right in his mouth. He is either evaded giving out the real reason, or has no idea about cricket selection — or both. And if indeed that is the real reason why Chauhan and Madan Lal have been axed, they should be swiftly followed by half-a-dozen others (see box).Unlike in the corporate or political spheres, the moral dilemma of ‘conflict of interest’ does not arise in sports selection. Perhaps due in part to the a prior assumption that sport is all about fair play, bloodlines rarely stand in the way of team selection. And anyway, rewards off the field depend on success on the field, so there’s no point picking your son if he’s going to drop a vital catch and stop your bonus.That’s how Cesare Maldini picked his son Paolo, and made him Italy’s captain, Micky Stewart did the same for Alec and any number of examples in club football and county cricket. With few eyebrows raised, few anguished editorials.Not surprisingly, Tihara’s justification has raised the temperature in an already heated situation. ‘‘Are they going to teach us (cricketers) moral values? Are they going to tell us how to run the game?,’’ Chauhan asked today. ‘‘We don’t want confrontation but at the same time we won’t allow them to dictate terms.’’The irony is that both Chauhan’s nephew Puru Raj Singh and Kunal Lal, Madan’s son, have already played several Ranji matches over the past couple of seasons. So it’s not as if they are cricketers on the verge of breaking through.It may also be the case that the two cricketers have become victims of a fight their elders are involved in. DDCA insiders say that several committee members were ‘‘disgusted’’ with the way Chauhan was promoting players belonging to Rohtak Road Gymkhana, of which he is the patron. It’s also why former international Surender Khanna (president, R R Gymkhana) was axed as a Ranji selector.Indeed, most of the sports committee members fall in the same category as they are all secretaries of some club of the other, affiliated to DDCA. To say that they have no stake in selection of teams would be contrary to facts. A selector, named in the panel by the committee, is bound to support the player recommended by them. This has been the ‘practice’ for the past several years. ALL IN THE FAMILY
