Special Correspondent
The delay by the Telangana government in constituting a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the deep-rooted financial and administrative irregularities in the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA), despite a clear directive from the Telangana High Court nearly two weeks ago, is now raising uncomfortable and unavoidable questions.
Why has the SIT not yet been formed? What exactly is causing the delay? And more importantly, does the continued inaction risk creating a public perception that powerful individuals are being protected from scrutiny?
These questions are no longer confined to cricket circles. They are now part of a wider public debate on accountability, political will, and institutional credibility.
The Telangana High Court, while hearing petitions relating to alleged irregularities within the HCA, had on April 24-25 directed the Director General of Police to constitute a Special Investigation Team led by an officer of the rank of Additional Commissioner of Police. The court had made it abundantly clear that the probe must be independent, credible and comprehensive, covering the administrative, managerial and financial affairs of the association.
The Court had also specifically noted allegations of systemic failures, including discrepancies involving crores of rupees, non-finalisation of accounts since 2017, alleged misuse of BCCI grants, irregular contracts, and questionable governance practices. Simultaneously, the Court entrusted former judge Justice P. Naveen Rao with sweeping supervisory powers over the HCA as a Single Member Committee to oversee reforms and day-to-day functioning.
The significance of the order was immediately recognised by stakeholders across Telangana cricket. Former players, coaches, club representatives, parents and aspiring cricketers viewed the High Court intervention as perhaps the most serious attempt in decades to clean up an association long accused of factionalism, favouritism, financial opacity and abuse of power.
Yet, despite the gravity of the judicial intervention, the SIT remains only on paper.
Naturally, speculation has begun to intensify.
The HCA controversy is not limited to minor procedural lapses. The allegations over the years have ranged from questionable stadium-related expenditures and renovation contracts to controversial land sub-leases, alleged financial irregularities involving private entities, conflict of interest violations, manipulation of league structures, “pay-to-play” allegations, and attempts by influential administrators to allegedly push their own family members into state teams and cricketing structures.
There are also longstanding allegations surrounding the mushrooming influence of private cricket academies and power brokers who allegedly converted Hyderabad cricket into a tightly controlled ecosystem where merit often became secondary to access and influence.
The concern in public discourse today is simple: if a genuinely independent SIT begins digging into these matters, many influential names from cricket, business and politics could come under uncomfortable scrutiny.
That is precisely why the delay is becoming politically sensitive.
Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy and his government must recognise that silence or administrative hesitation at this stage only strengthens the Opposition’s narrative that the powerful are being shielded. Even if such allegations are politically motivated, perception matters enormously in public life.
The government must therefore act decisively — not merely to comply with a judicial directive, but to demonstrate that it has absolutely nothing to hide.
The issue assumes greater sensitivity because some individuals associated with the HCA over the years have also occupied influential public and political positions. Any further delay, therefore, risks creating avoidable suspicion and unnecessary political embarrassment.
The High Court, notably, had rejected demands for a CBI inquiry and instead entrusted the state machinery with the responsibility of conducting a credible probe through the CB-CID framework. In effect, the judiciary showed faith in the state government’s ability to ensure fairness and impartiality.
That trust must now be honoured in both letter and spirit.
To be fair, there are signs that efforts toward cricketing reform have at least partially begun within the HCA. The new administration under secretary Jeevan Reddy has shown some visible intent to restore credibility. The appointment of former India cricketer Ambati Rayudu as Director of Cricketing Affairs was widely welcomed because Rayudu himself had, in the past, publicly spoken about flaws within the Hyderabad cricketing system.
There is also cautious optimism over attempts to bring in relatively credible selectors and administrators, particularly in junior and senior selection structures. But administrative reforms alone cannot erase years of accumulated distrust unless accompanied by legal and financial accountability.
That is where the SIT becomes absolutely crucial.
The investigation must not become a selective exercise targeting a few convenient faces while sparing entrenched networks of influence. If the probe is to have credibility, it must comprehensively examine all allegations — from financial transactions and governance decisions to conflict-of-interest violations and voting manipulations within affiliated clubs.
The issue of “conflict of interest” itself deserves serious scrutiny. Several clubs and units allegedly functioning under the indirect control of a handful of influential individuals have repeatedly been accused of distorting the democratic structure of the HCA. Cleaning the association requires structural correction, not cosmetic changes.
Importantly, the Telangana government today has an opportunity to position itself on the right side of reform.
The newly appointed DGP C. V. Anand, who is known to have closely followed cricket administration in Hyderabad in the past, is widely believed to understand the complexities, personalities and entrenched power structures within the HCA ecosystem. The government should utilise that institutional understanding constructively.
The SIT, however, must be headed by an upright and professionally respected senior officer with unquestionable integrity. Only then can public confidence be restored.
Cricket in Hyderabad was once synonymous with excellence, producing icons who brought immense pride to the city and the country. Over the last three decades, however, repeated allegations of corruption, favouritism and administrative decay have severely damaged that legacy.
The Telangana High Court has now opened a rare window for meaningful correction.
But judicial intervention alone cannot revive Hyderabad cricket unless the state government demonstrates urgency, transparency and political courage.
Every passing day without the constitution of the SIT only deepens suspicion, weakens public trust, and gives ammunition to critics who accuse the government of dragging its feet.
The Revanth Reddy government must therefore move swiftly, constitute the SIT without any further delay, and allow the investigation to proceed fearlessly and independently.
If Hyderabad cricket truly has to be reclaimed for talented young cricketers rather than power brokers and vested interests, this is the moment to act — decisively, transparently and without fear or favour.
