Former Test players and Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) heavyweights N Shivlal Yadav and Arshad Ayub sought an early SGM and AGM for the cricket body as the term of the Apex Council had ended on October 20, 2026.
Addressing the media the former players said they had submitted a letter with 108 signatures of club members seeking an early election to the cricket association. “So, we are requesting the single man committee (SMC) to conduct the SGM without any delay so that we can go on for the AGM,” they said on Wednesday.
“The AGM was due actually on the 21st of October but since they have not announced the AGM earlier, they have to do it 30 days before with the appointment of the Returning Officer which has not been done,” they added. “If members are not given any importance there is no point in having an association itself,” they stated.
They said that players and administrators may come and go, but the association must continue to function without interruption. They maintained that the association should be governed by its own members and that decisions must be taken democratically, with active participation from the membership, rather than relying solely on administrative arrangements.
“I don’t think we have the need to stand for elections as we have completed our terms. But there are people who are coming into the association who are not really part of it. The point is that the association should be managed by people from the association itself and not by administrators. So, that is something which we are looking forward to and we want to make sure that the SGM and AGM is conducted as soon as possible,” they said categorically.
On what action plan they have if the AGM is not held, they said: “We haven’t thought about the next step as yet because we are requesting the SMC to look into the issue and resolve the matter at the earliest.”
They emphasised that conducting the SGM was essential to take key decisions concerning the HCA. In accordance with the directions of the Supreme Court, certain amendments need to be made to the Association’s constitution. Issues such as increasing the number of councillors, eligibility criteria required for selectors’ also need to be discussed and decided at the SGM, they explained.
“There are certain aspects which we have not covered in our constitution. So that has to be corrected. The necessary amendments have to be done. One of the urgent matters is to increase the number of concillors on the Apex Council. The other is that the eligibility criteria for selectors has to be reduced. It is becoming difficult to find players who have played a certain number of matches,” they said.
“Ours is a mirror copy of BCCI but we do have certain needs which are unique to our association. So, those changes have to be made in the SGM and then we can go ahead with the AGM and elections as required,” said Ayub.
Asked if some of the clubs are still eligible to take part in the elections, Ayub said those clubs are automatically eligible. “It was only for one term which they fulfilled that and they have made the changes which was required in the clubs and all that has been done. I don’t think there is any issue with their participation anymore,” Ayub said.
They urged the authorities to take steps to conduct the SGM on November 15 (Sunday). However, they clarified that no official decision regarding this date had been announced by the concerned authorities so far.
They appealed to the Single-Man Committee to facilitate the election of a new governing body following the expiry of the present committee’s term and to ensure that there was no further delay in conducting the SGM and AGM. They expressed hope that the prevailing uncertainty within the HCA would be resolved at the earliest.
Former secretary K John Manoj, joint secretary Purshottam Agarwal and treasurer P Yadagiri were present at the press meet.
No need for a PC, says Shesh Narayan
HCA spokesperson T Shesh Narayan said there was no need for the members to call for a press conference on the SGM issue. “You don’t need a press conference to request for the SGM. Surprisingly, so many individuals who are responsible for this situation are talking of elections. Everyone has seen what elected bodies did to the association during the last two decades. When the members have an option of meeting the SMC, what was the need to have a press meet,” he said.
