Rajasthan cricketers face uncertain future
Test-capped Pankaj Singh says there is ‘insecurity among players.’
With one month left for the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to commence its domestic calendar, the fate of who will run the day-to-day cricketing activities of the suspended Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA) still hangs in balance. There is no clarity on who will pick teams for various age group tournaments either.
The BCCI had suspended the RCA two years ago after former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi was elected as its president. After BCCI’s suspension, 75 state cricketers had filed a petition in the Rajasthan High Court requesting the court to intervene to safeguard players’ future, as they were the worst affected when caught in the BCCI vs RCA crossfire.
Rajasthan captain Pankaj Singh says that the situation on the ground is very confusing and there is no clarity on what might happen next. “We’ve all been hearing these past few weeks that the situation will be sorted out. This will happen and that will happen, but till date we have not received any concrete news. There is a dilemma as well as insecurity among players on the future of cricket in the state. The last two years have been the worst for players,” Singh said.
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There have hardly been any selection trial games conducted in the state or any tournaments at district level since the fight between the two groups for RCA’s office broke out. Last year, Modi was ousted after a no-confidence motion was passed by Kota-based Amin Pathan. The matter is still in the court whereas RCA remains suspended by BCCI.
A top BCCI official explained that the Indian board can’t do anything unless the court passes another interim order. “Last year, the court gave an interim order to run RCA cricketing activities so that the team can take part in various BCCI tournaments. The order was for one year only which leaves us helpless now. The players will have to move court again,” a top BCCI official said.
Pathan, a BJP minority-cell leader in Rajasthan, who was the man behind ousting of Modi, says the state government and BCCI should look into players’ future immediately.
“We met the BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur, Rajeev Shukla and Anirudh Chaudhary in Delhi few weeks ago. They have assured us that BCCI will look into this matter as soon as possible. Till date we have not heard anything from them. We have requested BCCI that players’ future should not be at stake in these court cases. The women’s tournament will start after two weeks and we’ve had no trials, no matches. The situation anyway is getting bad day by day,” Pathan explains.
A month ago, Rajasthan’s Robin Bist moved to Himachal, and Singh said that players are worried about what lies ahead for them. “We all know what is happening at the ground level. Players are worried about their future. A cricketer’s career is very short and in those few years, a player is at his peak for only 3 to 4 years. We all know that the situation is not good and it will worsen but as a player we all are hoping that these (court cases) get over soon,” Singh added.
Bimal Soni, an established administrator in Rajasthan cricket for 30 years, said, “We had asked BCCI to appoint an ad-hoc committee which will look after RCA’s cricketing affairs, not only for state teams but for district matches too. There are no cricketing activities happening. Both groups don’t want cricketers to suffer. The matter is still in court and we are just getting dates. I don’t see any reason why BCCI can’t run RCA again as its parent body.”
