Rewinding HCA’s Original Sin: The Sub-Lease That Sold Hyderabad Cricket

Special Correspondent

Let’s stop pretending the rot in the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) is recent, accidental, or administrative. It is not. It is structural. It is deliberate. And, if one traces it back honestly, it begins with what can only be described as HCA’s original sin — the sub-lease agreement with Visaka Industries.

This is not just another episode in a long saga of mismanagement. This is the foundation on which the entire edifice of corruption, manipulation, and decay was built.

As your e-paper has consistently documented in the “Who Ruined HCA?” series, the past 2–3 decades have seen Hyderabad cricket collapse from a position of strength into a cautionary tale. Today, the association is better known for “pay-to-play” rackets than for producing cricketers. Parents are fleeced, merit is buried, and mediocrity is manufactured — all under the watch of individuals who masquerade as custodians of the game.

Meanwhile, real talent continues to emerge from unlikely corners of the country — from the streets to the national stage — reinforcing a simple truth: India does not lack talent; it suffers from corrupt gatekeepers.

The Uppal Land Deal: Where It All Began

To understand the present, one must revisit the moment when the government of undivided Andhra Pradesh allotted prime land in Uppal to HCA for the construction of a stadium.

At the time, HCA was headed by a former India international — a man who reportedly convinced the government that the association had the financial muscle to build the stadium independently. That assurance was the basis on which public land was entrusted to a private sporting body.

But what followed was a stunning betrayal of that trust.

Unable to raise the required funds, the same leadership entered into a sub-lease agreement with Visaka Industries, reportedly for an initial consideration of ₹6 crore. This was not a routine commercial arrangement. It was, by every reasonable interpretation, a blatant violation of the original lease terms with the government.

Public land, given for a sporting purpose, was effectively handed over to a private entity with sweeping rights over future revenues.

If this does not qualify as criminal intent, what does?

Even more disturbing is the opacity surrounding the deal. Crucial documents are said to be missing from HCA records. A “secret” agreement involving public assets has conveniently vanished. This is not mismanagement — this is concealment.

And the consequences? Catastrophic.

Visaka Industries, empowered by this agreement, allegedly held HCA hostage for years. Its influence reportedly extended deep into the association’s power structure — even facilitating the rise of one of its own to the presidency, not once, but twice.

The Second Betrayal: Silence Over Accountability

If the first act was criminal, the second was complicit.

The successor — another former Indian cricketer — had an opportunity to undo the damage. There are claims that efforts were made to cancel the earlier agreement, even with the backing of the General Body. Yet, the fact remains: no decisive legal action followed. No accountability was enforced. The system chose silence over correction.

That silence allowed the rot to deepen.

Four Decades of Decline

The results are visible and humiliating.

Hyderabad, once a powerhouse, has not won the Ranji Trophy since 1986 — the era of M.V. Narasimha Rao. Nearly four decades of irrelevance cannot be explained away by lack of talent. It is the direct outcome of institutional capture.

Selection processes compromised. Administrative posts sold. Cricket academies turned into profit centres. Elections are manipulated through control of clubs. The game was not just neglected — it was systematically looted.

The Moment of Reckoning

This is where the present Secretary, Jeevan Reddy, and the Congress-led state government must decide: are they serious about reform, or is this just another cosmetic clean-up?

Because if intent exists, the course of action is obvious — and unavoidable.

1. Register criminal cases against all those involved in the sub-lease agreement, invoking non-bailable provisions where applicable.
2. Legally challenge and nullify the Visaka Industries deal, if still enforceable in any form.
3. Initiate recovery proceedings against individuals who caused financial loss to HCA and, by extension, to public interest.

There is already a legal precedent.

In the case involving former India cricketer Venkatesh Prasad’s appointment as a high-paid consultant by HCA, the High Court made it clear: those responsible must personally refund the money. That judgment shattered the culture of impunity.

Why should the sub-lease scandal be treated any differently?

Follow the Money, Dismantle the Network

A former HCA office-bearer, speaking on condition of anonymity, puts it bluntly: “The money can be recovered. The network can be broken.”

According to him, a handful of individuals control 25–30 clubs, many allegedly through benami fronts. Each club today is valued at around ₹3 crore. These clubs are not sporting institutions — they are political instruments used to capture HCA elections and perpetuate control.

If the government is serious, it must:

• Audit and verify all affiliated clubs
• Identify benami ownership patterns
• Reclaim control of compromised units
• Dismantle the electoral cartel that has hijacked HCA for decades

No More Half-Measures

Jeevan Reddy’s window is closing. Intent without action is merely optics and timing is running out as he just left with 5-6 months.

Hyderabad cricket does not need another reform committee. It needs prosecution. It needs recovery. It needs accountability that hurts.

The question is simple: Will this administration have the courage to name, shame, and punish those who converted a public sporting institution into a private fiefdom?

Or will HCA continue to remain what it has become — a monument to impunity, built on a sub-lease that should never have existed?

The choice, and the responsibility, is now theirs.