Published: January 29, 2026 at 9:58 pm
The Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) administration continues to bungle and harm the interests of cricketers and cricket of which it is supposed to be the sole custodian. The woes of the players in Hyderabad keeps getting worse by the day.
The latest fiasco of the administrators is that the Under-23 team for their Col CK Nayudu Trophy match against Mumbai in Mumbai was announced around 11 am on Thursday and the players and staff boarded the flight to Mumbai at 2 pm. The four-day match is to be played from tomorrow (Friday, January 30). It meant that the team could not have a net session ahead of the match and will enter the match without any sort of practice at the ground. The match will be played at the Sachin Tendulkar Gymkhana, Kandivali, Mumbai.
In a normal situation, the team would leave for the outstation match at least two days ahead of the game so that they can have at least one proper practice session at the ground. But these are not normal days, in fact, they are quite abnormal.
Imtiaz Khan, interim CEO of the HCA, was tongue-tied when asked, in the afternoon, why the team was announced so late. He tried to brush the matter under the carpet. When it was insisted that he should give an answer to the query, he said he did not have the details with him but will find out and get back within an hour. He still has not responded.
That is the pathetic state of affairs in the HCA. The officials feel they are not accountable to anyone and can just get away with whatever decision they make.
When the last match against Vidarbha was completed on Monday, why didn’t the selectors sit down, discuss and announce the team for the next match at least by Tuesday? What prevented them from doing it? “Why didn’t the administrators ask the selectors to name the squad by Tuesday? Obviously, the selectors would not be dilly-dallying about the team if the administrators were strict about the timelines,” said a club secretary.
It is learnt that the team announcement was delayed because a particular player was not included in the squad. Sources also said that two of the selectors were backing the player. Whatever be the reason, it is highly unfair for the players and the coaching staff to keep them on the tenterhooks till the last day.
The move has come under severe criticism from former players and administrators. “How on earth can the team prepare itself for a four-day match when the team is announced on the eve of the game?” questioned a former office-bearer.
“This is unacceptable and highly unfair to the players. It is important that the players go to a match in a positive frame of mind and not in this manner,” said a former player.
“What are the administrators and selectors doing? The BCCI match schedule is released months in advance and are the officials not aware of the timetable? In any normal situation, the team should be announced at least 3-4 day before the match so that the players and coaches can prepare properly for the game. They also need to reach the venue at least two days ahead so that they can have a good look at the wicket and plan accordingly,” said former secretary S Venkateswaran.
“This is sheer injustice to the players. In what frame of mind will they play the game tomorrow as they were not even sure of their place in the squad. This is unacceptable by any standards,” he said and added that this was not expected from the one-man committee which was appointed by the Telangana High Court to oversee the administration of the HCA last year.
No redressal for grievances in HCA
“There is no redressal avenue in the HCA now. The administrator does not respond to any letters or messages sent to him by the club secretaries. Obviously, the administrator does not know about cricket and, therefore, he should seek help and ensure that things are being done in a proper and just manner. But that is not happening in the HCA right now. When we tried to bring to his notice that the selections were not being done properly, there is no response from him to our grouse. Where else can we seek justice,” lamented another club secretary.
The Apex Council is now literally rudderless as the posts of the secretary and treasurer are lying empty. The Apex Council members, themselves, are not sure of their role and powers anymore.
For the record Hyderabad are in the fifth position with 35 points and still have three matches after the Mumbai game. If only the senior selectors had not ‘tampered’ with the Under-23 squad for the previous game against Vidarbha, things may have been different.
Points tally: 1. Rajasthan 44 points, 2. Mumbai 44, 3. Vidarbha 41, 4. Odisha 37, 5. Hyderabad 35.
Hyderabad team for Mumbai match: Raghava Pattapu, Wafi Kachchhi, Harshit Choudhary, Mayank Gupta (captain), A Avanish Rao (VC & WK), S Dheeraj Goud (WK), A Vignesh Reddy, N Nitin Sai Yadav, G Rithish Reddy, Pranav Varma, M Ruthik Yadav, R Dinesh Rathod, Mohd Abdul Adnan, Mohammed Abdul Malik, Saranu Nishanth. Standbys: Sarthak Bharadwaj, Khush Agarwal, Shashank Mehrotra, Karan Pattanayak, Rahul Karthikeya.
