DDCA says Kotla can't host South Africa T20 warm-up, question mark over December Test too

The South Africa team is to kick off its 72-day tour of India with a Twenty20 warm-up fixture against a Delhi XI on September 29. However, the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) has expressed its inability to host the game at the Ferozeshah Kotla on flimsy grounds.

dna has learnt that DDCA senior vice-president and former India opener Chetan Chauhan has informed the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) that the Kotla cannot host the Twenty20 game because the association has been finding it difficult to get clearances from government agencies.

However, it is understood that the DDCA has decided to forfeit this fixture because of the association's "internal politics". What's more, work on the pitch has not yet started.

"The DDCA League was over in June. The ground was to be handed over to the curator right away. But it was handed over to us in the second half of August," a groundsman said. The pitch area, which is six inches deep, was dug up to lay fresh grass only last week."

One wonders if the BCCI will also shifting the fourth and final Test, to be staged at the Kotla from December 3-7, too.

"The DDCA is, perhaps, doing all it can to not host the Test match. The lack of governmental clearances will certainly come in handy at that time to cite as an excuse," said a senior official.

In a candid confession to dna, Chauhan admitted that "there were three main reasons which forced me to write to BCCI". "Firstly, I was not sure about the Kotla wicket as this involved an international team like South Africa.

Secondly, everyone knows that we've some controversy (read corruption issues) going on within our organisation (DDCA) which is hampering some of the work at the Kotla. Thirdly, and most importantly, was that we need various permissions from NDMC (New Delhi Municipal Corporation) and MCD (Municipal Corporation of Delhi) before hosting any international matches," Chauhan said.

When asked if the same reasons may then prompt the DDCA to surrender the Test match too, Chauhan said, "We have time on our hands. The Test match is two months away and I am hopeful that we will procure the required permissions by then."

In fact, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had announced last week that "corruption cases in DDCA will soon be probed by a high-level commission of inquiry". This will only compound the problems of DDCA.

Problems of plenty
The DDCA has, for long, failed to submit various compliance reports to government agencies. But, then, it was getting temporary clearances for almost a decade because of none other than Union finance minister Arun Jaitley.

Jaitley was the president of DDCA for many years. He resigned just before the general elections in 2014.

DDCA has been in hot water ever since former India all-rounder and BJP Member of Parliament Kirti Azad raised corruption issues in the Lok Sabha. That forced government agencies to initiate action against corrupt practices in the association.

It was only last month that the sports ministry wrote to the Delhi government to initiate action against DDCA for various infractions of law, including evasion of entertainment tax, unauthorised construction, etc.

Not just that, the ministry of corporate affairs is probing a case regarding embezzlement of funds in DDCA. Also, the Delhi Police has filed an FIR in a case relating to the age-old 'overage' issue in which the son of a senior Central Bureau of Investigation officer is allegedly involved. And let's not forget the curious case of DDCA president Sneh Bansal who transferred Rs 1.55 crore to three of his own companies without any reason.

"Justice can be delayed but not denied," Azad said. "Over the years, corrupt officials in the DDCA have been doing wrong things in the name of cricket. If you leave a wound unattended, then gangrene sets in and it becomes life-threatening," he added.