MS Shanker Indian cricket is booming on television screens and in stadiums, but the same cannot be said of the governance behind it. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the most powerful and wealthiest cricketing body in the world, is tethered to state associations that are riddled with corruption, nepotism, and endless…
Judicial Oversight & Selective Cleansing MS Shanker When the rot in the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) became too deep for internal repair, the matter spilled into the courts. What followed was a series of judicial interventions — Ombudsmen, Supervisory Committees, and Single-Member Inquiries — each tasked with cleansing an association drowning in corruption. Yet, despite…
Cricket is the ultimate winner, says this week’s guest Ravinder Reddy MS Shanker After 22 episodes of exploring ways to rebuild Hyderabad cricket, it is heartening to finally see a glimmer of hope. The Hyderabad team has performed impressively in the ongoing Buchi Babu Tournament. That success, many believe, is no coincidence—it stems from selectors…
MS Shanker A Club Secretary’s Candid Take on Greed, Glory, and a Game in Decline Hyderabad cricket still evokes nostalgia for its glorious past — a time when its clubs brimmed with talent, its league rivalled the Ranji Trophy for intensity, and its players commanded respect across India. But somewhere between passion and politics, integrity…
MS Shanker As the CID probe into the Hyderabad Cricket Association’s (HCA) murky financial irregularities and IPL ticket scam deepens, fresh revelations have emerged about the questionable election of the current Joint Secretary, Basavaraju. Documents accessed by this digital paper show that Basavaraju contested and won the HCA election while simultaneously figuring in the records…
MS Shanker Hyderabad cricket, for long defined by turmoil in its association and decline on the field, is showing signs of revival. The state team’s strong run in the ongoing Butchi Babu tournament — two convincing wins and a firm grip on a semifinal berth — has sparked rare optimism. For a side that once…
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 Vanishing Gold Cup: From Cricket’s Jewel to a Locked-Up Replica While chronicling the decay and disgrace that have plagued the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA), I would be remiss if I overlooked one of its most shameful episodes in this explosive series — the mysterious “melting away” of the once-prestigious Moin-ud-Dowlah Gold Cup Trophy. This…
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 Who says social media is all noise and no fact? Those dismissing “WhatsApp University” often forget that a well-sourced forward can carry more truth than a thousand wordy editorials. Sure, there’s a margin of error—call it 5–7%—but the core data often exposes what conventional academia and mainstream commentary won’t admit. One such fact…
