Await a comedy of errors!

BODYLINE 'TACTICS' TO WIN HCA BATTLE likely

Hyderabad: It is a ball game that everyone associated with Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) seems to have mastered, particularly with regard to the art of putting the ‘adversary’ on a sticky wicket. In a way, the most lethal exponents of ‘doosra’ and ‘reverse swing’ will pale into insignificance on this count!

This is notwithstanding the fact that every player in the ‘power plot’ is equally guilty of making a mockery of the laws of the land. What is driving them to take steps that are loathsome, and the unabashed manner each is trying to portray the other as the villain, is the greed to occupy power, one way or the other.

Damn the ‘rule book’ is the governing mantra of every power-monger, who is fighting for a position in the Association, least mindful of the fact that vexed with the internal bickerings and disgusted at the controversies dime a dozen, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has stopped releasing funds for almost two years now.

On the ground too there is nothing to cheer about. The current crop of Hyderabad players poses no threat to any level of opponent. It has been so deplorable that even the weakest outfit in Ranji Trophy is confident of a ‘cakewalk’ win over Hyderabad.

Despite the odd sparkle here and there, there has been a gradual decline in playing standards. The ‘better’ ones have gone in search of greener pastures and most have returned and for apparent reasons.

Given this sorry picture, one fails to understand why and for what these honourable officials are fighting for. There is neither any money in the coffers nor does the team show a semblance of a winning cohesiveness that can put Hyderabad back on track.

Leaving aside two or three players, none figures prominently in the Indian Premier League (IPL). No franchise, not even the Hyderabad-headquartered Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), is keen on ‘buying’ local ‘talent’. Of course, the otherwise diabolical administrators cannot be blamed for this fall in standards.

The much-maligned Association has become the laughing stock of the nation. It could become more pronounced, and draw the entire fraternity’s ire on Sunday when the long-overdue ‘official’ Special General Body Meeting (SGM) is conducted.

It is rather ironical that the incumbent body is, for a change, abiding by the High Court direction, and has put in place a belated SGM, ostensibly to amend its constitution as a measure of swearing by the Lodha panel recommendations.

A significant point is that Dr G Vivekanand stands disqualified as the President. It is a different matter altogether that he still remote-controls the show, thanks to his trusted lieutenants-the in-charge President Dr K Anil Kumar and CEO C Pandu Ranga Murthy- both of whom are indebted to Vivek’s generosity that saw them occupy the positions, in the first place.

A three-member panel that went into the fiasco for a first-hand account urged the HCA members to ensure that every member who attends the crucial meeting would get copies of the draft constitution, which has since been revised.

This has actually sparked-off yet another ego clash. Even as the office of Anil Kumar sent the copies to all clubs and sought the eligible members to send their photos for issue of identity cards, unperturbed and ‘oblivious’ of this development, the Secretary T Shesh Narayan, as the convenor of the ensuing meeting, did likewise.

The matter would have remained a non-issue had not Anil Kumar, perhaps smarting at the rebuff, added fuel by issuing a press release that essentially implied that only those Id-cards that had his signature were the authentic ones.

Pretty obviously, stung by the presidential coup, Shesh Narayan, fresh from attending the BCCI SGM, would be sharpening his weapons and attempt to settle scores in the hour of reckoning, particularly because his chair’s authority had been bypassed by an ‘outsider’.

And, of course, not to be caught on the wrong-foot, there are several disgruntled elements, who are drumming up the Mohd Azharuddin-orchestrated ‘elections are the only solution’ tune. The sure shot recipe for disaster will make for a lively cocktail that guarantees a dizzy hangover to all and sundry. Monday blues will the order of the day 24 hours later.

It should surprise no one in particular if the meeting ends on a stormy note and in a jiffy. It has happened before and it is bound to all over again given that tempers will run high and none of these gentlemen are bothered about the game, per se.

Lest one forgets, way back on November 20, 2016, the then President Arshad Ayub ‘passed’ a one-line resolution on implementation of the Lodha recommendations, and walked-out!

There is no denying that, at this point in time, everyone who aspires to be someone in the HCA hierarchy will be readying Bodyline tactics to fell the opponent and win the battle, although one is not sure if the stakes are worth the fight.