Bishan Singh Bedi slams DDCA over U-19 team selection

After maintaining a studied silence for six days since Bedi wrote the letter, DDCA president assured that his concerns will be addressed and that necessary step has already been taken.

“I got the letter and have forwarded it to Sunil Dev (honorary sports secretary) who will take the necessary action. As regard the concern on overage players, the medical process is BCCI verified. So there is no interference from the association on that front.

Regarding the players he has pointed out, it’s a long season and we will definitely consider them in the coming matches,” Bansal told Newsline.

The 16-member squad does field Delhi regulars, but inclusion of Nishant Kantawala, Suryansh Tyagi and Arjun Khanna has raised a lot of eyebrows. While Nishant, who has only scored 11 runs in his lone outing for Delhi in three years, is yet to make an impression, Suryansh, who represented the state at the U-14 level before representing Railways U-19 last year, was allowed to skip the necessary cooling off period for outsiders and rushed into the scheme of things. As far as Arjun is concerned, Bedi’s letter suggests his father is an influential person and it makes him an automatic selection in any Delhi side.

Responding to Bedi’s allegations, Bantu Singh, chairman of the U-19 se lection panel, explained his logic behind dropping prolific performers like Sumit Mathur, Salil Malhotra and Siddhant Sharma, all who have been consistent performers for Delhi across various age groups, and including the likes of Kantawala and Tyagi.

“See, the cooling off period is for the association to decide. If the boy comes to the field, we judge him on talent. As regards to Kantawala, he would have done something to find a place for three years. If they didn’t play him for three years, then that is something beyond my control. I would like to give the boys a chance, at least 2-3 and take it from there on,” says Bantu.

As far as the ignored lot is concerned, Bantu asserts that this is not the end of the road and they are very much in the scheme of things.

“It is not that they have been completely dropped. It’s a very long season and they are very much in the scheme of things and will get a chance to showcase their talent. I don’t pick players as a selector, but as a cricketer. I think like a cricketer and would never like to ruin careers. We very much know about the talent of the lot we observed, and are aware about who can do what. So if required, the changes will be made,” says the Delhi veteran who scored 11 tons in the 69 games he played.

Azad joins the fight

Supporting Bedi’s cause, former India cricketer and Delhi veteran Kirti Azad wrote a letter to the Joint Commissioner of Police and requested him to verify birth certificates of eight of the 16 players who feature in the Delhi U-19 team, and have become ‘younger overnight’.

The letter has raised questions about the authenticity of vice captain Himmat Singh’s date of birth. According to the letter, the right-hander has changed his name according to convenience – Himmat Singh in 2011, Himmat Tejbir Singh in 2012 and back to Himmat Singh in 2013. Other players mentioned in the letter are Rajesh Sharma (captain), Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Nitin Tanwar, Biren Pal Singh, Sarthak Ranjan and Kunwar Bidhuri.