SPORTS
The city’s cricket fraternity resembles a house of whining cats. Everyone is trying to pull the other down. It’s bickering at its worst.
Soon after the MCA named the selection panels and coaches for the season, the finger-pointing started. Sudhir Naik was appointed chief selector of the senior and U-25 sides. Karsan Ghavri, Deepak Jadhav and Raju Sutar complete the team. Sulakshan Kulkarni kept his job, but the highly successful U-25 coach Vilas Godbole didn’t. He made way for Vinayak Samant.
Now, the bickering part. Ghavri runs the BCCI’s pace bowling academy and that means he cannot hold any other post. He was replaced with Paras Mhambrey.
Naik and Sutar are part of the same National Cricket Club. “How is that possible?” one official said. “We were promised that Kadu bhai (Ghavri) would be made chief selector. He is much senior to Naik,” he complained. Deepak Patil, had to be happy with the U-14 job. “He is part of the managing committee. He is a police officer. How will he get permission to go on leave? This is a clear case of conflict of interest,” another official cried.