 "Controversy stumps Delhi cricket")
There is an uneasy calm outside the main gate of Delhi's biggest cricket stadium, the Feroz Shah Kotla, which draws its name from the 14th-century now-in-ruins fortress adjacent to it.
It is late afternoon and the lengthy shadows of trees are steadily disappearing. A gush of cold air whiffs past the ramshackle gate that offers you a glimpse into the corridors of Delhi cricket. Three guards are diligently doing their duty, checking the bags of anybody who wants to enter the premises.
A group of young cricket enthusiasts artfully trying to make its way in is thwarted by one of the guards: "Abhi nahi ja sakte, subah aana (You can't go in now, come in the morning)." His thick Haryanavi accent can be heard from a fair distance away.
On the field, preparations for the fourth Test match between India and South Africa are under way. With the dreadful pitches that the series has witnessed so far, the curators here are more worried about preparing the right track than the association's off-field woes. "All we know is that there is very little time to prepare for the India-South Africa game," says one of the groundsmen at the stadium.
Little do those who take care of the pitch at the Feroz Shah Kotla know that the association, which runs cricket in the state, is at the centre of an alleged corruption scandal!
Murky waters
A Delhi-based sports lawyer says, on the condition of anonymity, there "are no proper accounts, and there is total mismanagement". According to him, this is an "embarrassment even by India's shoddy sports administrative standards".
The Delhi High Court, earlier this month, allowed the fourth Test to go ahead according to schedule, in spite of DDCA being docked by allegations of flouting government rules and financial irregularities. The two-member bench headed by B D Ahmed directed the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) to issue a provisional clearance certificate to DDCA and asked former judge Mukul Mudgal to oversee all operations till the completion of the Test match. The bench was hearing a matter related to the long-standing tax dispute between DDCA and SDMC.
In early November, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had appointed a three-member committee to look into the corruption charges levelled against DDCA. This was after Bedi and Madan Lal, two former stalwarts of the game from Delhi, had met Kejriwal and asked him to "clean-up" the organisation.
The committee, headed by Chetan Sanghi, principal secretary of the vigilance department, found that there were massive irregularities in the way DDCA was functioning and suggested that it be dissolved with immediate effect, replacing the current office bearers with a new body of former professional cricketers.
Little has been done so far to implement the committee's recommendations. Apart from Vice-president Chetan Chauhan replacing Sneh Bansal as acting president, the findings seem to have found little resonance.
Chauhan, for now, refuses to be drawn into a conversation about DDCA's financial problems. "We are getting ready for the match. I'm sure the Kotla will put up a good show," is his only response when asked about what will happen next.
Kirti Azad, former cricketer and Bharatiya Janata Party MP, has for long been at loggerheads with those who run Delhi cricket. Azad says DDCA's clean-up is necessary to save cricket in the state.
Azad has been pushing for change in the functioning of Delhi cricket for a number of years now. "It is easily the worst-run cricketing body in the country," begins Azad, "embezzlement, conflict of interest, proxy voting, you name it and DDCA will be involved in it."
In 2013, the Delhi Government sealed Outswinger, the bar at Feroz Shah Kotla, after it learnt that alcohol was being served on Gandhi Jayanti, which is a dry day. Until earlier this week, DDCA owed the Delhi government more than Rs 24 crore in entertainment tax.
Despite repeated pleas to Kejriwal for a waiver, it was forced to pay Rs 50 crore as entertainment tax on Monday for the corporate boxes at the Feroz Shah Kotla at the behest of the Delhi High Court. What is intriguing is how DDCA hurriedly arranged this money when it had earlier claimed that it had gone almost bankrupt. The fact that a Test match is at stake and sizeable revenue is on offer isn't lost on anyone.
"There are no proper accounts. They inflate bills all the time and the elections are never held in a proper manner," alleges Azad, the MP from Darbhanga. According to documents in his possession, DDCA ran up food bills of Rs 54.85 lakh during the India-Australia Test match in December 2013. When the West Indies came here to play a Test in 2011, the food bills were pegged at Rs 64 lakh.
The expenditure incurred on security during the two matches was an equally astounding Rs 28 lakh and Rs 16 lakh, respectively. "The ground has its own public announcement systems and CCTVs. The Delhi Police allots them security personnel, especially for international matches. Yet, how can you spend so much?" wonders Azad.
Azad also alleges that of the 10,000 complimentary tickets bought by DDCA officials from GMR - the company that owns Delhi Daredevils - during the 2014 Indian Premier League season, only 4,300 were distributed among members. There is no record of the remaining 5,700 tickets.
Numbers game
On paper, DDCA has more than 2,000 members. But only a handful of them actually end up voting. That is put down to the proxy system of voting that the association follows. A member's signature qualifies as a vote.
So, in order to get elected to the executive committee, all you need is a host of signatures. "A member must come here and sign in his own handwriting. But that never happens. You get instances when one person signs at multiple places," explains Azad.
The damaging effect of such organisational turmoil on the players is often understated. In September, veteran Delhi all-rounder Rajat Bhatia confessed to having never seen a worse time in Delhi cricket. "I went for practice and there weren't enough cricket balls. Something as basic as drinking water was also missing. You cannot expect anything from DDCA," he had said.
Former fast bowler Madan Lal says it is the perennial infighting that is hurting the game. "Apart from the financial irregularities, there are factions within DDCA. There is a massive fight for power. Whenever there is an election, it feels as if they are fighting for the post of MP or MLA."
Unsurprisingly then, Sehwag - easily the greatest cricketer Delhi has produced - moved to represent Haryana earlier this year. Mithun Manhas, another long-time servant of Delhi cricket, switched his allegiance to Jammu & Kashmir. Bhatia, after his nasty fallout with skipper Gautam Gambhir, now plays for Rajasthan.
And, it's not only the senior lot that is being affected. Maninder Singh, who represented both India and Delhi, feels that nepotism and fielding of over-age players is a bigger problem. In the past, DDCA has been accused of playing over-age players in under-19 and under-23 matches - the C K Nayadu under-23 tournament last year being a glaring example.
"Players are seldom picked on merit. If you're an influential person's relative, you get selected. The people who run DDCA are playing with the emotions of young players," says Singh. "They all work hard but do not succeed because of such pathetic politics."
But at the same time, he feels that the quality of players is the only reason why Delhi cricket is still doing reasonably well. "Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan, Ishant Sharma - all are doing well for the national team. Had the system been clean, Delhi would have been able to produce more such cricketers."
Lal feels that the only way out is that former players should run DDCA. "People who have played the game will put the interest of the players first. We will only get a clearer picture post the fourth Test match," he says. "Hopefully, Delhi cricket will be in good hands very soon."
It is late afternoon and the lengthy shadows of trees are steadily disappearing. A gush of cold air whiffs past the ramshackle gate that offers you a glimpse into the corridors of Delhi cricket. Three guards are diligently doing their duty, checking the bags of anybody who wants to enter the premises.
A group of young cricket enthusiasts artfully trying to make its way in is thwarted by one of the guards: "Abhi nahi ja sakte, subah aana (You can't go in now, come in the morning)." His thick Haryanavi accent can be heard from a fair distance away.
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Beyond a giant cardboard cutout of R K Laxman's Common Man inside, the walls are festooned with pictures of Delhi's finest cricketers, from Bishen Singh Bedi to Virender Sehwag. The few visitors seem oblivious to the mess that the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) is embroiled in.
On the field, preparations for the fourth Test match between India and South Africa are under way. With the dreadful pitches that the series has witnessed so far, the curators here are more worried about preparing the right track than the association's off-field woes. "All we know is that there is very little time to prepare for the India-South Africa game," says one of the groundsmen at the stadium.
Little do those who take care of the pitch at the Feroz Shah Kotla know that the association, which runs cricket in the state, is at the centre of an alleged corruption scandal!
Murky waters
A Delhi-based sports lawyer says, on the condition of anonymity, there "are no proper accounts, and there is total mismanagement". According to him, this is an "embarrassment even by India's shoddy sports administrative standards".
The Delhi High Court, earlier this month, allowed the fourth Test to go ahead according to schedule, in spite of DDCA being docked by allegations of flouting government rules and financial irregularities. The two-member bench headed by B D Ahmed directed the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) to issue a provisional clearance certificate to DDCA and asked former judge Mukul Mudgal to oversee all operations till the completion of the Test match. The bench was hearing a matter related to the long-standing tax dispute between DDCA and SDMC.
In early November, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had appointed a three-member committee to look into the corruption charges levelled against DDCA. This was after Bedi and Madan Lal, two former stalwarts of the game from Delhi, had met Kejriwal and asked him to "clean-up" the organisation.
The committee, headed by Chetan Sanghi, principal secretary of the vigilance department, found that there were massive irregularities in the way DDCA was functioning and suggested that it be dissolved with immediate effect, replacing the current office bearers with a new body of former professional cricketers.
Little has been done so far to implement the committee's recommendations. Apart from Vice-president Chetan Chauhan replacing Sneh Bansal as acting president, the findings seem to have found little resonance.
Chauhan, for now, refuses to be drawn into a conversation about DDCA's financial problems. "We are getting ready for the match. I'm sure the Kotla will put up a good show," is his only response when asked about what will happen next.
Kirti Azad, former cricketer and Bharatiya Janata Party MP, has for long been at loggerheads with those who run Delhi cricket. Azad says DDCA's clean-up is necessary to save cricket in the state.
Azad has been pushing for change in the functioning of Delhi cricket for a number of years now. "It is easily the worst-run cricketing body in the country," begins Azad, "embezzlement, conflict of interest, proxy voting, you name it and DDCA will be involved in it."
In 2013, the Delhi Government sealed Outswinger, the bar at Feroz Shah Kotla, after it learnt that alcohol was being served on Gandhi Jayanti, which is a dry day. Until earlier this week, DDCA owed the Delhi government more than Rs 24 crore in entertainment tax.
Despite repeated pleas to Kejriwal for a waiver, it was forced to pay Rs 50 crore as entertainment tax on Monday for the corporate boxes at the Feroz Shah Kotla at the behest of the Delhi High Court. What is intriguing is how DDCA hurriedly arranged this money when it had earlier claimed that it had gone almost bankrupt. The fact that a Test match is at stake and sizeable revenue is on offer isn't lost on anyone.
"There are no proper accounts. They inflate bills all the time and the elections are never held in a proper manner," alleges Azad, the MP from Darbhanga. According to documents in his possession, DDCA ran up food bills of Rs 54.85 lakh during the India-Australia Test match in December 2013. When the West Indies came here to play a Test in 2011, the food bills were pegged at Rs 64 lakh.
The expenditure incurred on security during the two matches was an equally astounding Rs 28 lakh and Rs 16 lakh, respectively. "The ground has its own public announcement systems and CCTVs. The Delhi Police allots them security personnel, especially for international matches. Yet, how can you spend so much?" wonders Azad.
Azad also alleges that of the 10,000 complimentary tickets bought by DDCA officials from GMR - the company that owns Delhi Daredevils - during the 2014 Indian Premier League season, only 4,300 were distributed among members. There is no record of the remaining 5,700 tickets.
Numbers game
On paper, DDCA has more than 2,000 members. But only a handful of them actually end up voting. That is put down to the proxy system of voting that the association follows. A member's signature qualifies as a vote.
So, in order to get elected to the executive committee, all you need is a host of signatures. "A member must come here and sign in his own handwriting. But that never happens. You get instances when one person signs at multiple places," explains Azad.
The damaging effect of such organisational turmoil on the players is often understated. In September, veteran Delhi all-rounder Rajat Bhatia confessed to having never seen a worse time in Delhi cricket. "I went for practice and there weren't enough cricket balls. Something as basic as drinking water was also missing. You cannot expect anything from DDCA," he had said.
Former fast bowler Madan Lal says it is the perennial infighting that is hurting the game. "Apart from the financial irregularities, there are factions within DDCA. There is a massive fight for power. Whenever there is an election, it feels as if they are fighting for the post of MP or MLA."
Unsurprisingly then, Sehwag - easily the greatest cricketer Delhi has produced - moved to represent Haryana earlier this year. Mithun Manhas, another long-time servant of Delhi cricket, switched his allegiance to Jammu & Kashmir. Bhatia, after his nasty fallout with skipper Gautam Gambhir, now plays for Rajasthan.
And, it's not only the senior lot that is being affected. Maninder Singh, who represented both India and Delhi, feels that nepotism and fielding of over-age players is a bigger problem. In the past, DDCA has been accused of playing over-age players in under-19 and under-23 matches - the C K Nayadu under-23 tournament last year being a glaring example.
"Players are seldom picked on merit. If you're an influential person's relative, you get selected. The people who run DDCA are playing with the emotions of young players," says Singh. "They all work hard but do not succeed because of such pathetic politics."
But at the same time, he feels that the quality of players is the only reason why Delhi cricket is still doing reasonably well. "Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan, Ishant Sharma - all are doing well for the national team. Had the system been clean, Delhi would have been able to produce more such cricketers."
Lal feels that the only way out is that former players should run DDCA. "People who have played the game will put the interest of the players first. We will only get a clearer picture post the fourth Test match," he says. "Hopefully, Delhi cricket will be in good hands very soon."