NCA panel overrules Gursharan's appointment

By Our Special Correspondent

MUMBAI, MAY 4. Former Test cricketer Gursharan Singh will not be part of the North Zone Cricket Academy that began functioning from May 1. Though the chairman of the National Cricket Academy (NCA) Committee, Mr. Raj Singh Dungarpur, had given his consent two days ago to continue with Gursharan as the fifth coach, the NCA committee which met here on Friday at the Cricket Club of India (CCI), overruled Gursharan's appointment. It's rather unfortunate that Gursharan was dragged into this unpleasant episode.

``I'm sorry for him. It's not the cricketer's fault, it's the official's. He was appointed by Mr. C.K. Khanna (vice- president, BCCI). The NCA committee is the only body which has the authority to take decisions. The NCA had disciplined three cricketers. This is a far serious wrongdoing,'' said Mr. Dungarpur.

The North Zone CA will function with the four coaches-Yashpal Sharma, Surinder Khanna, Chetan Sharma and Rajinder Amarnath.

``The Committee strongly felt that it was not correct to have made Gursharan's appointment. The committee members, including cricketers Polly Umrigar, Sunil Gavaskar and Brijesh Patel, were unanimous about this. They were right in overruling my decision.''

The other decisions taken were to start an inter-zonal tournament for the academies and also to give ample opportunities for the under-19 boys before the World Cup in January 2002 in New Zealand.

``Wisden India which had agreed to sponsor the tournament made a presentation at Pune, but the committee rejected the proposal. The committee felt, and rightly so, that such a tournament has to be conducted by the BCCI unaided and that it should be named after a famous coach. A.G. Ram Singh, Kamal Bhandarkar, Hemu Adhikari and a few more names were discussed,'' said Mr. Dungarpur.

DDCA shocked

Our Special Correspondent reports from New Delhi: The Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) reacted with shock as the National Cricket Academy (NCA) on Friday removed Gursharan Singh as the fifth coach from its zonal cricket academy launched with great fanfare here on May 1.

Within 24 hours of admitting his ``mistake'' on the Gursharan affair, the NCA chairman, Mr. Raj Singh Dungarpur, has changed his stance, sparing no thoughts for a former Test cricketer, who stands humiliated for no fault of his.

The DDCA Vice-President, Mr. C. K. Khanna, who is also one of the vice-presidents of the Board, had insisted that the appointment of Gursharan had the sanction of the NCA and the Board too. ``We had discussed this matter during the time when the Board had its Working Committee meeting in Delhi,'' Mr. Khanna stressed. Mr. Khanna had also repeatedly stated that he would not allow Gursharan to be humiliated.

But then this is exactly what has happened. Poor Gursharan, all he could say, on Friday, was: ``I respect the Board's decision. I have no complaints. If my services are required in the future, I'll be honoured to be part of the set- up.''

The DDCA might have been at fault at the start in announcing the name of Gursharan along with the other coaches-Yash Pal Sharma, Surender Khanna and Chetan Sharma-when the NCA had named Rajinder Amarnath as the fourth coach. But once the NCA Chairman gave the go-ahead to have five coaches, clearing Gursharan's name also, the matter should have ended there.

Mr. Khanna was guarded in his reaction on the exclusion of Gursharan. ``It's an unfortunate development. We are getting in touch with the NCA and other BCCI officials. We are disturbed about the embarrassment caused to a former Test cricketer and the co-ordinating association inspite of open press statement made by the NCA chairman at DDCA yesterday,'' he said.

Mr. Khanna disclosed that he was promised by Mr. Dungarpur that Gursharan would soon be issued an appointment letter as the fifth coach of the academy. ``I didn't expect this at all. The DDCA will back Gursharan. I'll take up the matter with the Board President (Mr. A. C. Muthiah) and persuade him to intervene at the earliest,'' Mr. Khanna added.

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