Special Correspondent
The stench of corruption emanating from the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) has crossed every boundary of tolerance. What began years ago as whispers of malpractice has today exploded into a full-blown racket — of deceit, financial fraud, and moral decay — carried out under the guise of “cricket administration.”
And this time, the complaint lodged by Telangana Cricket Association (TCA) General Secretary Dharam Guruva Reddy is not just another grievance. It’s a detailed dossier that rips apart the carefully woven façade of Hyderabad cricket’s top brass, exposing how two officials — Acting President (Vice President) Daljeet Singh and Joint Secretary Basava Raju — have allegedly turned the HCA into their private fiefdom.
The complaint, addressed to Rachakonda Police Commissioner G. Sudheer Babu, lays bare a damning pattern of corruption that has become the HCA’s trademark — cheating, manipulation of team selections, misappropriation of funds, forgery, and systematic exploitation of young players and their parents.
The charges are not empty words. They are backed by a chain of previous FIRs, some registered as recently as 2025, and others stretching back years — all painting the same picture: the HCA’s office bearers operate as if they are untouchable, immune from law, logic, and morality.
To recall, FIRs 1137/2023 to 1140/2023 were registered at the Uppal Police Station against then HCA President Mohammad Azharuddin and others. Another major case — CID FIR No. 02/2025 — booked former HCA President A. Jagan Mohan Rao and several officials. Six were arrested. But two conveniently slipped through the cracks — Daljeet Singh and Basava Raju — who, instead of being restrained, have now entrenched themselves deeper, allegedly running the association like a criminal enterprise.
The latest scandal concerns the Under-23 Hyderabad State Team selections, a category meant to nurture emerging players. Instead, it has become a cesspool of bribery, favouritism, and mental harassment.
A parent, D. Anjaneyulu, whose son Sathwik Dharmapuri hails from Karimnagar, filed a formal complaint alleging gross manipulation and irregularities in the U-23 team selection process. His letter, copied to Union Minister Bandi Sanjay Kumar, describes how deserving players from Telangana’s districts are deliberately sidelined to make way for those from a small network of “Hyderabad-based clubs” favoured by the HCA’s power brokers.
This is not selection — this is an auction: District players are humiliated, rural talent is erased, and only those who can “pay to play” are allowed in. It’s a system built on extortion and deceit.
According to credible reports, several selectors have allegedly demanded huge sums from parents — promising state or even IPL berths in return. The HCA’s corridors, once echoing with the dreams of young cricketers, now reverberate with bargaining, threats, and backroom deals.
The TCA’s complaint draws attention to the continuing criminal conspiracy that persists within the HCA despite multiple law enforcement interventions.
Sections 406, 409, 420, 467, 468, 471, and 120B of the IPC — covering criminal breach of trust, cheating, forgery, and conspiracy — have been cited. The charges are grave. But what’s graver is the police inaction that has allowed this rot to thrive.
This isn’t the first time the HCA has been exposed. It’s a pattern — every time one set of crooks is cornered, another emerges wearing the same colours, mouthing the same empty promises of “reform.”
From Azharuddin’s chaotic regime to Jagan Mohan Rao’s manipulative tenure, and now to Daljeet Singh’s alleged abuse of authority — the story remains the same: cricket in Hyderabad is governed not by merit, but by manipulation.
The question that now haunts every parent and player in Telangana is simple — how long will this continue?
When a registered association repeatedly violates the law, defies court-appointed committees, and ignores the BCCI’s constitutional mandates, why are its office-bearers still allowed to function?
Why have Justice Naveen Rao’s supervisory directions, issued under the High Court’s orders, been mocked with impunity? And why does the BCCI — which preaches “clean cricket” — turn a blind eye when its own state affiliate becomes synonymous with deceit?
The TCA’s letter makes a pointed request: the seizure of selection files, bank records, cheque issuance registers, and district fund accounts — the very documents that could reveal the scale of misappropriation.
Yet, without immediate police intervention, these records risk being tampered with or destroyed — just as evidence has vanished in past HCA scams.
Beyond corruption lies the unseen human tragedy. Every year, thousands of boys across Telangana — from Nizamabad to Mahabubnagar — train relentlessly, dreaming of donning Hyderabad colours. Their parents sacrifice comfort, time, and money. But in the end, they face an invisible wall — a wall of politics, power, and bribes.
The denial of fair opportunity is not just unethical — it’s criminal. It crushes ambition, damages confidence, and destroys trust in the system.
Many district players, after years of rejection, give up cricket altogether. Some slide into depression. A few even contemplate extreme steps. Who will be held accountable for the psychological scars this corrupt system leaves behind?
Let’s call a spade a spade — the Hyderabad Cricket Association is no longer a sports body. It’s a crime syndicate disguised as an association.
Its members operate with arrogance, issuing threats to whistleblowers, silencing parents, and manipulating records to cover tracks.
Funds released in the name of “district cricket development” are allegedly siphoned off. Selection trials are stage-managed. Match fees are delayed. Contracts are doled out to cronies.
Every audit, every inquiry, every FIR tells the same story — loot with impunity.
This time, the public outcry must not end with another investigation that goes nowhere.
The complaint lodged before Commissioner Sudheer Babu must be treated not as a routine file but as a test case for Telangana’s law enforcement credibility.
If the police, ACB, and CID cannot bring these individuals to book even after repeated evidence, then the message to society is chilling — that sports corruption enjoys immunity in Hyderabad.
The demand is simple and just:
– Register criminal cases under the cited IPC sections.
– Seize all relevant financial and administrative records.
– Protect whistleblowers and parents from intimidation.
– Conduct a transparent, court-monitored investigation.
Because if the system fails again, it will not just be the HCA that’s discredited — it will be the entire edifice of Telangana’s cricket administration.
The HCA’s house of deceit must be torn down brick by brick. The crooks who parade as cricket administrators have stolen not just public money, but public faith.
This is no longer about selection controversies or administrative mismanagement — it’s about justice, accountability, and the very soul of Telangana cricket.
The youth of this state deserve better than being cheated by the very people entrusted with their future.
It’s time for the Commissioner, the CID, and the BCCI to act — not with statements, but with swift, visible, and punitive action. Because the longer these men remain in power, the deeper Hyderabad cricket sinks into the abyss of corruption.
