Sanjay Bharadwaj, DDCA’s newly appointed director has begun an indefinite hunger strike outside the premises of Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium on Thursday afternoon. Bharadwaj, a former first-class cricketer from Delhi, said he was forced to take this step because of the “autocratic style” of functioning of president Rajat Sharma and the appointment of members of the Cricket Committee, all of whom have conflict-of-interest cases staked against them.
“As an appointed director of the DDCA, it pains me to see how some of these appointments are being made by Sharmaji. Some of these persons such as Virender Sehwag, Rajat Bhatia and Gautam Gambhir are players of great competence no doubt, but they all have conflict-of-interest cases as stipulated by the Supreme Court,” a disgruntled Bharadwaj said.
On the face of it, Bharadwaj’s grouse was legitimate. That’s because Sehwag, for instance, is one of the main expert commentators on India TV, a channel run by Sharma. That apart, he also runs his cricket academy in the national capital and is also involved with IPL franchise Kings XI Punjab. Sehwag’s long-time opening partner Gambhir is still an active cricketer. “How can an active player be in such a panel?” he pointed out.
“ I have begun a hunger strike right now because once the domestic season begins, this issue will get prolonged even further and our cricketers will suffer. I want a quick resolution on this,” he explained.
