Aug. 22: The ‘match’ to wrest control of the Hyderabad Cricket Association between the ruling faction led by Shivlal Yadav and the rebels — who had politicians MP G. Vivekanand and MLC Kasani Gyaneshwar on their team — was a no contest. It was over in the very first round of counting, at the end of which members of the ruling clique had opened up massive margins and left their opponents badly bruised. Down, and almost out. It reminded one of the power play period in a game of cricket.
Among the heavyweights humiliated were MP G. Vivekanand and MLC Kasani Gyaneshwar, both of whom contested for vice-presidentship but polled a lowly 99 and 35 votes respectively out of a total of 226.
Outgoing secretary M.V. Sridhar and vice-president and Speaker of the Andhra Pradesh Assembly N. Kiran Kumar Reddy did not turn up to vote.
However, there were a couple of tight fights in which P. Yadagiri and Executive Committee member K. John Manoj lost by agonising margins of two and one votes respectively.
Naresh Sharma of the rebel group unseated P. Yadagiri from the treasurer’s chair after sitting poker-faced (a la Steve Waugh during a crisis) through a nerve-jangling twister. Naresh began with a 20-vote deficit and gradually cut down the difference to 8, 5, 2 and 1 before levelling scores with just eight votes left. He then ran up a three-vote lead before Yadagiri pulled back two. With just two votes left to be counted, Naresh led by a hair’s-breadth margin of one. It was hair-rising stuff when Returning Officer Jayesh Ranjan read out ‘Naresh Sharma’ as he opened the penultimate ballot. And with the last one in hand, Mr Ranjan had only said ‘Nare...’ when cacophonic cheers drowned out his resonant voice. Needless to say, wild celebrations followed the 114-112 scoreline.
The battle for the second executive committee member’s post from the ‘B’ division was another tough one. R. Devraj, who was trailing K. John Manoj by 13 votes at the end of the third and penultimate round of counting, pulled his way through to win 126-125.
The new body sounded upbeat and renewed their commitment to Hyderabad cricket. “This is a new team, and we have new challenges to face. We will try and take Hyderabad to greater heights,” said president Arshad Ayub.
Vice-president N. Shivlal Yadav said losing the treasurer’s post was not a setback. “We will work as a team with Naresh,” he said. Naresh, for his part, promised all cooperation. “There is no animosity. I’ve known all of them (winners from the ruling group) for many years. We are a family,” beamed Naresh.
Vice-president E. Venkatram Reddy of Deccan Chargers reiterated Deccan Chronicle’s commitment to promoting the game in the city. “We will continue to foster talent in Hyderabad as well as the districts and also push for a wider recognition to Hyderabad on the international cricket map,” he said.
“As coach of the Hyderabad senior team, I now have a dual responsibility to get the State side back into the Elite division from the Plate,” said vice-president and former Test player S.L. Venkatapathi Raju said.
Secretary D.S. Chalapathi vowed to try and bring some of the games at next year’s World Cup to Hyderabad. “I have heard that some matches are being shifted out of Ahmedabad. We will try and explore the possibility of getting some of the matches here,” he said.
“The local league structure will also be strengthened. We will get a pool of 60 players from all age groups to play a tournament and then select teams for the Ranji Trophy, U-22, U-19 and other sides,” Chalapathi added.