As informed earlier, we have temporarily put on hold the series “How to Revive Hyderabad Cricket”(Saturdays) and “Who Ruined HCA?” (Sundays). This decision comes in response to the growing confidence expressed by players across all levels, officials, and several club secretaries in our e-paper’s continued efforts to expose the ongoing scams within the Hyderabad Cricket Association. Given the magnitude of irregularities under the present truncated Apex Council, our focus remains on unearthing every wrongdoing that undermines the very purpose of the Supervisory Committee—appointed by the High Court and headed by former judge Justice Naveen Rao. — Editor
From Pride to Petty Fights: Who’s Killing the Spirit?
The rot within the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) refuses to end. Once a powerhouse of talent and discipline, Hyderabad’s women’s cricket setup is now mired in infighting, favoritism, and administrative apathy — the same disease that has crippled the men’s game for years.
When the truncated HCA apex council hastily appointed selectors and team management earlier this season, senior women cricketers chose restraint, hoping the legacy of two successful seasons would continue. That optimism now lies shattered.
The team’s performance in the ongoing national tournament says it all — only one win against Odisha, and humiliating defeats against Andhra, Himachal Pradesh, Tripura, and Chhattisgarh. The loss to Tripura, where Hyderabad folded for a miserable 60, was particularly embarrassing. Insiders say the defeats have little to do with talent and everything to do with deep internal discord.
According to multiple sources, the dressing room has turned toxic. Alleged rivalries within the team management have created visible divisions among players, undermining morale and unity. A parent of one of the players revealed, “My daughter and several others have been making distress calls home. The team management has been using foul language against players. Some girls are even threatening to quit mid-tournament.”
When contacted, team manager Bhavani refused to comment — silence that speaks louder than words.
Cricket, once revered as a “gentleman’s game,” now resembles a street brawl within Hyderabad’s women’s camp. Personal egos, petty politics, and the quest for control seem to have overtaken the sport’s basic values of teamwork and sportsmanship.
The core question is simple: how did it come to this?
The answer lies in the very system that governs Hyderabad cricket. The apex council — functioning on borrowed legitimacy — has packed selection panels with loyalists rather than competent professionals. Selectors are reportedly chosen not for merit or cricketing acumen, but for proximity to powerful “advisors” and middlemen who thrive on HCA’s decaying ecosystem.
Alarmingly, Hyderabad’s women’s teams have now become vulnerable — and the same controversial figures from Andhra, including those with tainted pasts, are allegedly reasserting their influence in HCA affairs. One such accused, V. Chamundeswaranath, who once faced multiple allegations of sexual misconduct, is said to wield influence through the current Acting Secretary — himself from coastal Andhra. Even after state bifurcation, these brokers continue to manipulate Telangana’s cricket administration with their dirty and unethical practices, which many insiders describe as a “hospital business.”
Should that be allowed? In the past, the previous government might have looked the other way because one of its senior ministers and his family were allegedly involved. But what is shocking is that the present Congress government — which came to power accusing KCR’s family of all sorts of irregularities — now seems content allowing the same Andhra brokers to ruin the HCA.
For context, between 2009 and 2018, several women cricketers from Andhra had accused Chamundeswaranath of misbehaviour, intimidation, and sexual harassment. Media outlets like The Hindu, Times of India, Deccan Chronicle, and India Today chronicled these cases. The BCCI and ACA had even initiated probes and barred him from administrative roles for a period. Yet, his shadow lingers over Hyderabad’s cricket corridors today — a damning indictment of the system’s moral collapse.
The HCA’s internal decay cannot be cured with press releases or cosmetic reforms. Only a Central agency like the CBI can truly unravel the nexus of brokers, cronies, and corrupt administrators destroying Hyderabad cricket from within. The continued inaction of state agencies like the ACB and CID — even as they could have recommended the dissolution of the truncated body with just three elected members — has only further tarnished the HCA’s already battered reputation.
Until then, the game in this city will continue to lose — not just matches, but its very soul.
