Hyderabad: The Telangana Cricket Association (TCA) President, Guruva Reddy, on Friday came down heavily on the Hyderabad Cricket Association’s (HCA) truncated Apex Council for issuing advertisements in newspapers inviting sponsors for a so-called T20 tournament “to promote cricket across the state,” calling it nothing short of a bundle of “white lies.”
He questioned how the HCA—currently being run by just two individuals, Acting President Sardar Daljit Singh and controversial Joint Secretary Basavaraju—could claim to organize major tournaments when multiple cases against it are still pending in court. In this context, he recalled how the Telangana High Court had recently reprimanded Basavaraju for challenging the appointment of Justice Naveen Rao as a one-man committee. The court even questioned the Joint Secretary’s locus standi, bluntly asking, “Who the hell does he think he is?”
Guruva Reddy alleged that the HCA had taken several dubious decisions in recent months, including the suspension of three officials arrested by the CID on graft charges, without a proper quorum. He also pointed out that the Apex Council had arbitrarily held the AGM, revoked the suspension of 57 clubs (earlier suspended by Justice L. Nageswara Rao on behalf of the Supreme Court), and later withdrew that decision. “Everyone knows they even had to cancel the SGM fearing legal hurdles,” he added.
He further questioned whether Justice Naveen Rao had been informed about the advertisement announcing the T20 tournament. According to him, the move is nothing more than an attempt by the duo, along with a handful of former cricketers and others, to “loot money under the guise of promoting the game”—a claim he described as “laughable.”
Guruva Reddy appealed to Justice Naveen Rao to step in and “crack the whip” against what he termed as the “most irresponsible remnants of the Apex Council” who are taking arbitrary decisions without legal backing.
He asserted that the TCA would not rest until it secures membership in the BCCI. “We will not allow the most corrupt HCA to enter any district of Telangana and mislead cricketers. TCA has been promoting the game across the state effectively, and we will continue to do so,” he declared.
