League cricketers from the districts of Telangana as well as Hyderabad city, are in a tight corner and are facing a bleak future. Due to a variety of reasons, there are few openings for them in their cricket careers as well as jobs. Cricket coach Adnan Bafana told Siasat.com that the unhappy situation began long ago and has continued to worsen.
The players from the districts have few choices when it comes to teams. First of all, sports infrastructure is poor. According to the coach, no grounds have been developed after 1967. For matches the players often have to travel to Hyderabad, live in unhygienic and dark rooms and go through an ordeal.
“Moreover, there are very few tournaments in the districts. They have to represent the District Cricket Association’s team and those who cannot make it to this level are left to fend for themselves. It is unlikely that they will ever be able to play at a higher level in Hyderabad,” he said.
Multitude of problems
Adnan explained further: “The players have been facing a multitude of problems. Let me start from the beginning. The HCA at present has 220 teams which consist of clubs, institutional teams, private institution teams, and district teams. But affiliation of teams to the HCA stopped way back in 1986. Since then no new affiliations have been given to clubs or institutions.”
“In that period, the population of Hyderabad and its surroundings has increased more than tenfold. Hundreds and thousands of new cricketers are now living in this region who must seek out the existing clubs and institutions to show their talent. This can lead to underhand practices to gain entry. Why has such a situation been created? It is high time that new affiliations are given.”
No jobs for players
“Secondly there is the lack of jobs in the districts as well as in Hyderabad. For the last 30 or 35 years, cricketers have not been recruited into the top institutions. Earlier the banks used to employ cricket players. Many of India’s top players such as Captain Ajit Wadekar, G R Vishwanath, Syed Abid Ali, and many others used to work in different banks. But nowadays banks do not recruit cricket players,” lamented Adnan.
“It has become expensive to play the game and maintain bats, balls, pads, gloves etc. Equipment costs much more now than it used to do earlier. How will cricketers survive without jobs?” questioned the coach.
Involve the new companies
“The HCA should see whether the new corporate bodies such as Amazon and Deloitte plus banks like HDFC and HSBC are willing to field teams and employ players. The same goes for the numerous international schools and IT companies that have now sprung up in Hyderabad. I appeal to the HCA President to look into this matter.”
“Even institutions like VST, TSRTC, LIC, and the State Electricity Board no longer offer jobs to sportsmen. But the irony is that these institutions were given their affiliations to the HCA because they were forming cricket teams by recruiting players. Now they are not doing so but are still enjoying the benefits,” said Adnan.
“These old institutions do not even play all matches in the leagues. Some play in only three or four matches just for the sake of keeping up a show,” he added. “Surprisingly, the AGORC (Accountant General’s Office Recreation Club) provides jobs to cricketers but it does not have an affiliation.”
Taking benefits but giving no jobs
“Now the situation is such that these institutions have all the rights of affiliated units but have no interest in developing the game and helping the players. As per the Lodha Committee guidelines for all sports, the representatives of the institutional teams should be international cricketers or at least first-class cricketers. But for 30 years we are seeing representatives of these institutions who have no cricket background, coming to cast their vote during the HCA elections.”
Inadequate number
“Out of the 220 teams that I had mentioned earlier, almost all are based in Hyderabad and Ranga Reddy district. These two units have 210 teams. The remaining ten teams are from the far-flung districts. As is obvious, this is insufficient and inadequate,” explained Adnan.
“As per the recommendations of Justice (Rtd.) L Nageswar Rao who was heading the administration of the HCA before the last election, 33 new district teams should have been added. Nothing has been done so far. I hope the Telangana government and the HCA will investigate this matter urgently. It is a matter that affects the careers of thousands of budding cricketers,” concluded coach Adnan Bafana.
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