Controversy continues as HCA rival faction announces start of league matches

Express News Service

CHENNAI: The affairs of Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) turned murkier on Monday with five Apex Council members, who were temporarily disqualified by an Ombudsman on Sunday, making an announcement to start three-day league matches from Wednesday. 

These five members including secretary R Vijayanand, in fact, reached the Gymkhana Grounds at Secunderabad to hold a press meet on Monday but were denied permission. The other disqualified members are vice-president John Manoj, joint secretary Naresh Sharma, treasurer Surender Agarwal and councillor P Anuradha. 

“We wanted to announce the start of the league matches but were stopped at the gate by cops. Anyways, we made the announcement before the mediapersons present there that the three-day league matches will begin from Wednesday,” Vijayanand told this daily. 

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Speaking on the disqualification issue, he said, “We don’t accept Justice Deepak Verma (retd) as our Ombudsman. Our Ombudsman is Justice Nisar Ahmed Kukur (retd) and the matter is pending with him. An order is expected soon in this regard.” 

Even as the five members attempt to begin the season at the HCA with the three-day matches, the faction led by president Mohammad Azharuddin is planning to hold a local T20 league for its affiliated clubs. The faction is planning to begin the league from next week. 

“A day after being temporarily disqualified by the Ombudsman, now they want to organise matches. They are trying to grab media headlines. As far as planning is concerned, we are going by the domestic calendar announced by the BCCI and planning to host a T20 league,” said a source from Azharuddin’s faction. 

The BCCI had announced on Saturday that the men’s domestic season will kickstart with the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 meet, scheduled to be held from October 20 to November 12. It was also learnt that the HCA chief is expected to write a letter to 216 affiliated clubs informing them about the T20 league and advising them not to take part in the tournament being announced by the rival faction. 

“These five members own a few clubs but how will they get the permission to use the facilities owned by HCA for organising the league as they have been disqualified? On the other hand, the HCA president will closely monitor the T20 league so that we select the best team for the upcoming Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy,” added the source.