Rajesh Dhar
JAMMU, Aug 18: Rubbish! In the season, when Jammu and Kashmir Ranji Trophy team has been placed in the prestigious Group-A at the domestic cricket circuit alongwith the likes of formidable Mumbai and strong Karnataka, for its outstanding performance last year, the office bearers of Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA), rather than holding preparatory matches and coaching camps, are at logger heads with each other and engaged in the ‘show of muscles’ to leave the cricketers in a fix as to which way to choose.
Sources said that the Jammu wing of JKCA as per the custom had scheduled a fitness/coaching camp of various age groups from August 19, 2014 for the players shortlisted in the already held 4-week camp in Jammu, however, the chairman and general secretary of JKCA, on the other hand, surprisingly, have bypassed the Jammu wing and asked these shortlisted players alongwith some blue-eyed boys, who neither were part of the camp nor considered for the shortlist, to attend the nets at Srinagar for final selection from August 20 onwards.
Experts believe that by bypassing the elected office bearers of one region, the constitution of the elitist cricket body of the State has been thrown in the winds.
Sources further said that the office bearers had fallen into controversy soon after the elections were held earlier this year, when the elected office bearers from Jammu were not invited for framing the sub-committees including selection committee, adding that some of the selectors named by Jammu wing were not given berth in the committees and some others who suited the central body in its scheme of things were made part of the committees, giving rise to confusion and chaos.
After this mess and muddle, it has been observed that it is the clash of ego between the office bearers all the way, which has kept them distant from each other, to serve as a stumbling block for running the affairs of the Association smoothly.
“Though, the representatives of Jammu wing approached the chairman of the Association for solving the issue by organizing the Ranji Trophy selection trial camp in Jammu rather than in Srinagar, but the chairman was adamant in holding the camp in Srinagar to leave the issue unsolved,” sources informed.
“We have been left in the lurch and caught in a fix as to which way to choose as the camp is being organized in both the regions. We want to preserve the sanctity of the game and spirit of sports. However, in the present scenario, we are hapless and feel scared to take decisions, keeping in mind our future. The game is the loser in this atmosphere as the camp should only have been in Jammu,” said bunch of current Ranji Trophy cricketers, expressing anonymity while talking to EXCELSIOR.
The talented cricketers from the districts other than Jammu while expressing serious resentment over their non selection for the camp said that the JKCA had promised to hold camps in various districts, but, contrary to that, it bypassed the Jammu wing and picked the teams from Jammu district only to debar the promising cricketers from other districts.
Sources said that the joint secretary of Jammu wing, Sudershan Mehta has appealed all the cricketers of Jammu to attend the coaching camp at GGM Science College Hostel ground and MA Stadium, Jammu as scheduled from tomorrow.
According to reliable sources, the office bearers of Jammu wing alongwith some players and parents called on the Sports Minister, Raman Bhalla at his residence in Gandhi Nagar today in connection with the present mess in JKCA and in particular to shifting of camp from Jammu to Srinagar. The Minister has assured them early redressal of their problems.
When contacted, Mr Bhalla said that he also received many phone calls from the parents of the local cricketers as also from the cricketers of other districts regarding the JKCA mess, adding that he will take up the matter with Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah and will leave no stone unturned in resolving the issue at an earliest.
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