Club Secretaries Hold the Key MS Shanker In the past few weeks, I have been reaching out to those who matter most in Hyderabad cricket—not just former players, administrators, or politicians, but the men at the grassroots who truly decide the direction of the game: the club secretaries. With 216 affiliated clubs forming the electoral…
The Indian Parliament this week sent out a strong message: playtime is over. By passing a bill to ban the operating, facilitating, and advertising of online games played with money, the Lok Sabha has drawn a hard line against what many parents, educators, and policymakers have long feared—gaming addiction spiraling into a full-blown social crisis….
MS Shanker The Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) appears to be sinking deeper into crisis under its Acting President Sardar Daljit Singh, who has once again courted controversy by convening a Special General Body Meeting (SGM) in defiance of the association’s by-laws and amid a host of unresolved disputes. A letter dated August 14, issued by…
Inside the System: A Veteran Secretary D Kishen Rao Speaks Out In the course of writing this long-running series over the last few months, I’ve interacted with a range of voices—from former state players to disgruntled selectors—trying to piece together how Hyderabad cricket, once a proud nursery of the sport, fell into its current state…
MS Shanker The crisis inside the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) has deepened, with Acting President Sardar Daljit Singh coming under increasing fire for allegedly arbitrary actions taken by a truncated apex council — one that critics say has no mandate under the association’s own rules. In the latest challenge, Ramakrishna Udupa of Classic Cricket Club…
MS Shanker Azharuddin – From Captaincy to Controversy When a senior police officer recently named three former India cricketers—Shivlal Yadav, Arshad Ayub, and Mohammad Azharuddin—as key culprits behind the sorry state of the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA), it wasn’t hyperbole. It was a blunt, uncomfortable truth that had long circulated in cricketing circles. In the…
MS Shanker Mohan Bhupathy, former selector, speaks out: No more experiments, we need results In the wake of the state CID’s recent crackdown on the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA), a long-overdue clean-up operation finally seems to be underway. The arrests of three HCA officials, including the sitting President, in connection with the IPL ticketing scam…
MS Shanker In yet another twist to the Hyderabad Cricket Association’s (HCA) continuing saga of controversy, Acting President Sardar Daljit Singh and Joint Secretary Basavaraju find themselves under a cloud. The duo, part of the “leftover” Apex Council after the arrest of three key office-bearers — President, Secretary, and Treasurer — are now accused of…
MS Shanker The Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) has been plunged into fresh controversy after several club secretaries questioned the legality and propriety of a series of decisions taken by the current Apex Council. The criticism follows the suspension of HCA President G. R. Jaganmohan Rao, Secretary Devraj Ramachandran, and Treasurer C.J. Srinivas Rao—all arrested in…
Arshad Ayub: From Test Cricketer to Alleged Architect of Corruption MS Shanker (Editor’s Note: Following receipt of a legal notice from former Indian Test cricketer and ex-HCA President Arshad Ayub, this article has been revised. Certain portions have been removed or modified to avoid misinterpretation. A corrigendum has also been issued immediately after receipt of…
