Milking the Game: How Greed and Nepotism Broke HCA
M.S. Shanker
When I began this series — “Who Ruined Hyderabad Cricket” — my aim wasn’t merely to assign blame. It was to chronicle the slow disintegration of a once-proud cricketing culture. After six damning episodes, I took a breather to pursue a more constructive path with “How to Revive the HCA”, engaging former Test and Ranji players in search of hope and solutions. That series, too, ran eight parts.
Now, I feel compelled to resume both tracks. This has become a mission. A plea. A warning. Whether it’s the apex court (where cases remain pending), the BCCI (which seems indifferent to the rot in its member units), or the state government (unreliable, but still duty-bound), someone must step in and rescue the game before it’s buried for good.
New and disturbing revelations have come to light — and they demand public attention. Hyderabad cricket’s decline isn’t merely the result of incompetence. It’s a tale of systematic sabotage by individuals and factions who saw the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) not as a public institution, but as a cash cow to be milked dry.
The Players’ Panel: From Promise to Poison
Let’s return to the Players’ Panel, once brimming with promise and pride. Headed by former Test cricketers Shivlal Yadav, Arshad Ayub, and Mohammad Azharuddin, this panel embodied Hyderabad’s cricketing legacy. Ironically, they are now seen as the very gatekeepers who left the doors wide open for decay. They may not have destroyed the game outright, but they certainly weakened its foundations, paving the way for a more aggressive usurper: the current HCA president, K. Jaganmohan Rao, who seems determined to finish the job.
I reached out to Jaganmohan Rao to give him a fair opportunity to present his side. He never responded — not to calls, not to messages, not even to WhatsApp texts.
His silence speaks volumes. For someone heading a public sports body, a complete lack of basic communication is unacceptable. Worse, it suggests an inferiority complex—or perhaps fear — of journalists like me who ask uncomfortable but necessary questions.
The Rise of Jaganmohan Rao: Politics, Not Cricket
So, who is K. Jaganmohan Rao? Not a cricketer. Not even a former sportsperson. Nor does he own or represent a team, which is a mandatory criterion for becoming an office-bearer. Then how did he manage to contest for the presidency?
It’s a mystery. Allegedly, he became treasurer of a team owned by former minister Krishna Yadav, without the latter’s knowledge. Reports suggest he paid ₹40 lakh to his brother Rajendra Yadav to become treasurer of the team, a team that was owned by his brother.
In short, Jaganmohan Rao is by most accounts a shrewd businessman with no interest or knowledge of the game. An opportunist. His qualifications to head the HCA are circumstantial at best.
His political ascent began post-2014, when Telangana was carved out of Andhra Pradesh. His community, long sidelined, suddenly found political leverage. Rao entered sports administration via the Telangana Handball Association, but his ambitions were always bigger: cricket, a game that combines passion with profit.
It helped that he had strong political connections. He is a relative of T. Harish Rao, senior BRS leader and a key figure in the KCR-KTR-Kavitha family-run TRS (now rebranded as BRS) enterprise. By 2022, as the HCA drowned in scandal and internal feuds, the BRS machinery helped parachute Jaganmohan Rao into the presidency. He won by a single vote — but that slim margin came at an exorbitant cost.
₹7 Crore for the Presidency?
Sources claim Jaganmohan’s election campaign was the costliest in HCA’s history, to the tune of ₹7 crore. Allegedly, ₹50 lakh each was paid to five influential power brokers — John Manoj, Surendra Aggarwal (ED has already attached his properties in a scam), Vijayanand, Moize, and Yadagiri — the so-called “musketeers” who control swathes of votes through corrupt clubs that exist solely for electoral manipulation.
Soon after taking charge, Jaganmohan Rao locked horns with Sunrisers Hyderabad, the IPL franchise that pays hefty rentals to use the Uppal Stadium. He reportedly shut down their enclosures — a petty act of vengeance after the franchise refused to hand over more complimentary passes, which he likely intended to distribute to his political patrons and stooges.
This is not just administrative high-handedness. It is symptomatic of a deeply cheap, vindictive mentality.
Let’s not pretend the rot began with politicians. Many of the former cricketers, who should have been custodians of the game, played their part in its downfall.
Take the infamous “tracksuit episode”, when the Hyderabad team was unceremoniously thrown out of the Moin-ud-Dowlah Gold Cup. In the aftermath, the “Cricketers’ Panel” was formed — ostensibly to protect players. Instead, it became a den of favouritism.
Late Dr. M.V. Sridhar — brilliant with the bat and shrewd in politics — institutionalized club manipulation. Even the graceful M.L. Jaisimha, a Hyderabadi icon, reportedly succumbed to nepotism. Shivlal Yadav, whose own Test career was controversial, allegedly tried to promote his siblings. As for Arshad Ayub and Azharuddin, they may not have engaged in nepotism directly, but their silence and complicity allowed political cronies (including the above-mentioned brokers) to thrive.
To their credit, they built infrastructure, most notably the Uppal stadium. But what use is a stadium when the soul of the game has been hollowed out?
Today, according to reliable sources, the HCA is a dysfunctional mess. Every office-bearer appears interested only in making a quick buck.
Jaganmohan Rao rules through fear, money, and manipulation. Insiders say he’s ready to spend crores again to retain power. If that doesn’t set off alarm bells, what will?
His greed is evident from a recent incident in which the SRH team franchisees complained about his demand for more complimentary passes. Was it to please his BRS benefactors?
Time for a Clean-Up
As someone who has chronicled Hyderabad cricket for over four decades, I make this heartfelt appeal: let’s start the clean-up before there’s nothing left to save. I also urge my colleagues in the media to join this fight — some of your platforms carry the clout to shape public opinion.
The BCCI, the courts, and the state government must act now. If the ACB has already prepared a chargesheet in past financial scams, let prosecution begin swiftly and impartially. Jail a few of the corrupt if necessary. Send a message: cricket is not the birthright of failed politicians or crooked administrators, including greedy cricketers. It belongs to the kids sweating it out on dusty grounds — and to the fans who still believe.
Jaganmohan Rao’s continuance as HCA president is not just a tragedy — it’s a threat. A threat to the game, its history, and its future. (To be concluded)
