New Delhi: Newly elected president of Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) Rohan Jaitley on Tuesday promised to build a new cricket stadium in the capital and address the selection controversies surrounding the senior and age-group teams.
Incumbent Jaitley’s panel comprehensively beat Kirti Azad’s group to take all the posts — five office-bearers and seven directors – for a three-year tenure. Jaitley beat Azad, the 1983 World Cup winner and Trinamool Congress MP, by 800 votes – 1,577 to 777 votes. Shikha Kumar was voted vice-president, beating her nearest rival Rakesh Kumar Bansal by 710 votes. Ashok Sharma was elected secretary, Harish Singla became the treasurer and Amit Grover the joint secretary.
This is Jaitley’s second full term as DDCA president, and his third overall. He first became DDCA president in 2020 and was re-elected in 2021 after beating supreme court lawyer Vikas Singh. While over 3700 members were eligible to vote, the polls, held from December 13 to 15, saw 2,463 votes cast. While most posts saw one-sided wins for Jaitley’s panel, the post of secretary saw a keen fight between Ashok Sharma and Vinod Kumar Tihara with Sharma beating the former office-bearer by 149 votes.
“Over the last three years, we have worked towards infrastructure development, members’ welfare, pensions, healthcare schemes, outreach programme for former players, changing the structure of age-group competitions, introducing Delhi Premier League, women’s league, and so forth. This mandate is a result of our hard work,” Jaitley said.
“In this tenure, we are planning a new clubhouse within the Arun Jaitley stadium. It will have not just the members’ facilities but also indoor cricketing facilities, restaurants and recreational areas. We are also planning a new cricket stadium in the city and are in talks for a new parcel of land. That is going to have exceptional arrangements for members and cricketers.”
Jaitley also addressed allegations of administrators’ interference in team selection. This season, DDCA named 84 probables for Ranji Trophy and announced a 24-member squad for Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, prompting widespread criticism.
“There have been complaints in selection, but we are always there to address them. As administrators, we have almost no role in selection. Ever since (Justice RM) Lodha reforms came into effect, it’s the CAC that appoints selectors and coaches. There are problems but they will be addressed,” Jaitley assured.
In the run-up to the elections, Azad had accused Jaitley of corruption, claiming that the DDCA administration had used only a fraction of the ₹140 crore it gets from BCCI annually.
Azad had asked: “The grants that the association has been receiving have been mismanaged. There is no proper auditing of the books of accounts. Only ₹7 crore was spent on cricket. Where is the rest of the money going?”
Calling the charges “unsubstantiated”, Jaitley said, “Being a former cricketer, it is very important to be a part of the ecosystem. When you have represented the country at the highest level, your suggestions and inputs are always welcome. Unfortunately, none of these allegations were there 30 days before the elections. When you hold public office, there are certain responsibilities that you have, and the basic responsibility is to not say unsubstantiated things.”
