It was almost inevitable. Two days after selectors ‘outed’ Abhijit Kale, a TV channel reported today the allegations of a former India ‘A’ batsman that he was asked to pay for his selection in the team.Hyderabad all-rounder Vanka Pratap told Sahara Samay that he was asked by selectors to pay for a place in the team. ‘‘I have been approached but I didn’t bother’’, Vanka reportedly said, without apparently specifying dates. ‘‘Someone approached me on behalf of the selectors. I wouldn’t like to name the selector but everybody in Hyderabad Cricket Association knows who he is.’’In a 10-year career that ended two seasons ago, Vanka played 83 first-class matches and scored 3,957 runs at an average of 36.30. Vanka’s highest domestic score was 136 and he hit six centuries and 27 half-centuries in a ten-year career. He also played for India A against the West Indies A side in 1998 also cited the example of Hyderabad off-spinner Noel David, who was picked ahead of veteran off-spinner Kanwaljit Singh for the 1996-97 India tour of the West Indies. ‘‘The selection raised eyebrows. Noel was not even sure of a place in the Hyderabad team but he was picked for the Indian team.’’Interestingly, the team manager on that tour was DV Subba Rao — who is investigating the Kale case for the BCCI.Vanka is not likely to be the last to make allegations of corruption. It is a known fact that Indian sport is riddled with corruption of every sort — money is only one of the commodities changing hands. Any of India’s women athletes, even those at the top, will tell you of the sporting equivalent of the casting couch.The problem stems from two flaws. One is the all-powerful role of the official — whether coach or selector or administrator — and that person’s willingness to use that power to any limit. The sportsmen and women — all except the top cricketers — become pawns. The second is the pyramid structure of Indian sport. The base — where most of the sportsmen ply their trade — is huge but the money and fame exist only at the very tip of the pyramid. To get there requires a short-cut. The rest is easy to guess.
