Will He, or Won’t He?

An Open Letter to the Telangana High Court-appointed HCA SMC

With the term of the present elected Apex Council of the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) ending yesterday, October 20, a well-wisher of Hyderabad cricket has chosen the Orangenews9 media platform to address an open letter to Justice P. Naveen Rao (Retd.), the Telangana High Court-appointed Single Member Committee (SMC).

As a responsible media platform, Orangenews9 has consistently highlighted alleged irregularities and administrative failures in HCA, providing a voice to aggrieved stakeholders. While the SMC may have taken some positive steps, the larger question remains: will Justice Naveen Rao, entrusted with sweeping powers to set things right, finally crack the whip and clean up the system?

HCA’s recent recognition for maintaining the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in an environmentally responsible manner is welcome. But a well-maintained stadium alone cannot be a substitute for transparent administration, accountability and clean governance.

Justice Naveen Rao is known for his firm, no-nonsense judicial approach and for introducing reforms in the State’s High Court. The expiry of the Apex Council’s term presents a crucial opportunity to address the long-standing concerns surrounding Hyderabad cricket. Will he now demonstrate his Ugra Roopam against entrenched interests and ensure that the game is restored to its rightful stakeholders?

We reproduce the open letter below, retaining its original voice, arguments and recommendations.

OPEN LETTER

To

Hon’ble Justice P. Naveen Rao (Retd.)

Former Acting Chief Justice, High Court of Telangana

Single Member Committee, Hyderabad Cricket Association

Subject: Destiny has given HCA a second chance. It must not be lost.

Respected Sir,

Few people are better placed to set Hyderabad cricket right than you. As Acting Chief Justice, you ran the administration of the State’s judiciary, and you bring that experience of running institutions fairly and firmly. More importantly, you no longer need to be told what is wrong with HCA. You have seen it from the inside: the files, the factions, the obstruction and the people behind it.

Destiny has given HCA this chance once before. In 2023, the Supreme Court sent Justice L. Nageswara Rao to rescue an association that, in his words, “was defunct and in a dire straits”. He restarted cricket, ordered a forensic audit, disqualified 57 clubs and held elections. But the elections came before the reforms, and within two years the High Court found HCA’s functioning “in shambles”. Now, with the Apex Council’s term ending, the second chance has come through you. There may not be a third.

Why the outgoing Apex Council should not continue

The Bye-laws leave no room for doubt. Rule 6(2) fixes the term of office bearers at 3 years, Rule 14(4) does the same for elected Councillors, and Rule 8(2) requires elections every 3 years at the AGM. There is no provision for an outgoing council to continue until a new one is elected. When the term ends, the mandate ends. And on its record, this council has given members no reason to wish otherwise:

1. General Body decisions buried. The 86th AGM accepted Justice Nageswara Rao’s report in full, along with other far-reaching reforms. None of it was implemented. The amendments sent to the Registrar still sit on paper.
2. An AGM without minutes, then an illegal one. The minutes and video of the 87th AGM (29.06.2025) were never circulated. Three weeks later, an “adjourned” AGM was held on 19.07.2025 on the strength of Apex Council meetings without quorum, with three days’ notice instead of twenty-one, and with the 57 clubs told of their exclusion by an e-mail at 10.21 p.m. the night before. The High Court allowed the challenge to that meeting.
3. A President without an election. A person who was neither elected nor the Vice President was declared President. The High Court set this aside on 08.06.2026 and ordered an election within 45 days. It was never held.
4. Your work obstructed, the Court defied. The High Court recorded the council’s “non-cooperative approach and attitude” and that your recommendations “were not received, implemented and considered”. It found a prima facie case of contempt against the Joint Secretary and the Treasurer, and warned that further obstruction “would be viewed very seriously”.
5. HCA left undefended. Justice Nageswara Rao noted that HCA was set ex parte in several cases. In the age-fraud cases, a few players got relief on technical grounds, and that relief was then extended to everyone banned, without any further investigation. Payment disputes have fared no better. Genuine young cricketers pay the price.
6. The rot has deepened. The multiple-club control that Justice Nageswara Rao flagged has only grown stronger. Clubs are leased out, and private academies influence selections. Office bearers, coaches and selectors with conflicts of interest continue unchecked, and corruption complaints go uninvestigated. The HCA Academy of Excellence, which he revived after years of closure, is again in urgent need of revival.
7. A council at war with itself. The Secretary has filed contempt against the Acting President and the Apex Council. The Joint Secretary faces two contempt matters.
8. Questions unanswered, promises unkept. Allegations before the High Court include unpaid pensions to former Ranji players despite BCCI funds and missing records including the Gymkhana lease documents. Members were given assurances at meeting after meeting; few were honoured.
9. No AGM, no accounts, no election. No 2026 AGM, no accounts placed, and no election called before the term ran out.

If these office bearers want to return, let them win an election. An extension by default would reward three years of drift.

A candid word, Sir

Members are grateful for leagues conducted fairly, two all-India titles, open selections, and clean elections for Secretary and Treasurer. But in honesty, the pace of change has been slow, and some of it will not change HCA in the long run. POSH and anti-corruption exist largely on paper, and district reform is pending. Some old-timers and interested parties have found their way into posts, and others use your name to push their own agendas.

We give you the benefit of the doubt: you were saddled with a non-cooperative Apex Council. That excuse ends with this term. Now is the chance, and it cannot be lost.

What we ask

1. No extension by the back door. After the term ends, no member of the outgoing council should exercise any power except as the Court permits and under your supervision.
2. Implement the blueprint. Justice Nageswara Rao’s recommendations to the Supreme Court and the Lodha principles: a verified electoral roll, audited and published accounts, a working Anti-Corruption Unit and POSH mechanism, strict age verification, fair representation for the districts, and professional management.
3. Clean up the game. Act against proxy and leased clubs; enforce sworn conflict-of-interest declarations for office bearers, coaches and selectors, with no private-academy links in selection; have every corruption complaint independently investigated; and revive the HCA Academy as the main pathway for young talent.
4. A Reform Committee. Eminent persons, such as a former Test cricketer, a woman international, a retired judge, a chartered accountant and a sports administrator, together with genuine HCA members of clean record. No one who holds or seeks office, or has a conflict of interest, should sit on it.
5. A time-bound plan and an election road map. Fixed deadlines for every reform, and a published timetable for elections under the reformed rules.
6. Weekly transparency. A weekly update on the HCA website and regular circulars, so that members no longer depend on rumours and WhatsApp forwards.

Sir, history will remember not only the matches played under your watch, but whether HCA was finally handed back to its members clean, accountable and free of court supervision.

Yours faithfully,

A well-wisher of Hyderabad cricket