Lele does it again

But added he was not to be blamed for the entire controversy 8211; which saw Manhas unceremoniously replaced by Delhi left-arm paceman Ashish Nehra. quot;Immediately after naming him, it was realised that Manhas who bowls spinners can8217;t replace paceman Amit Bhandari who had been added to the senior team bound for the Toronto series and Nehra was included,quot; Lele said.

Lele, who alongwith the previous selection committee chairman Ajit Wadekar came in for fire for the faux pas, said, 8220;Khanna had been informed by Diwadkar of the change and the later had even called him up in Singaporeto verify the fact. Khanna denied he had ever made a call to Singapore and said Diwadkar had only conveyed the name of Manhas to him before the change was made three days later.

Board president AC Muthiah, sensing the matter was once again getting out of control, said Lele had expressed regret for the whole episode and it would be better if the controversy was laid to rest. It was Lele and Wadekar who had initially raised a storm by blaming the press for the confusion over Manhas and Ashish Nehra by saying it was nothing but quot;media gossipingquot; and that it had happened due to quot;communication gapquot; in the media.