Rayudu withdraws from Ranji Trophy alleging corruption in HCA
Cricketer Ambati Rayudu has opted out of the upcoming Ranji Trophy season, following his accusations of corruption against the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA). On Saturday (November 23), the batsman took to Twitter and requested Telangana’s Minister for Industry and Municipal Administration, KT Rama Rao, to dig deeper into the corrupt practices that have been plaguing the state’s cricket association.
Hello sir @KTRTRS, I request u to plz look into nd address the rampant corruption prevailing in hca. Hw can hyderabad be great when it’s cricket team is influenced by money nd corrupt ppl who hav numerous acb cases against them which are being swept under the carpet.
— Ambati Rayudu (@RayuduAmbati) November 23, 2019
‘Election promises’ got in the way
In an interview with Telangana Today, the Hyderabad captain said he had shared his concerns with the new HCA President Mohammad Azharuddin. However, Rayudu felt that ‘election promises’ came in the way of Azharuddin’s response to the grievances. The practices reportedly affected team selections and ultimately the team’s performance in the Vijay Hazare and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
“I did have a talk with the president. He always said he was trying his best. But it never happened,” Rayudu was quoted as saying in the interview to Telangana Today.
“I feel he should have initiated stronger measures but he did not do that. I feel there were more election promises and as a result, the game suffered.”
“If you look at the team, some of the players are selected because of the influence of some club secretaries. Sometimes, merit takes a back seat. This is unfortunate. Rich, influential and politicians’ children get preferences in Hyderabad teams. This is a true fact. We have to stop this buck. Since someone had to speak out, I thought I should do this. This is how bad the system has become in HCA,” he added.
On Sunday, Rayudu once again took to the social media platform, this time addressing the HCA President himself.
Hi @azharflicks let’s not make it personal.da issue is bigger dan us.we both knw wats goin on in hca.u hav a god given opportunity to clean up hyd cricket.i strongly urge u 2 isolate urself from da seasoned crooks.u wil b savin generations of future cricketers. #cleanuphydcricket
— Ambati Rayudu (@RayuduAmbati) November 24, 2019
The batsman had recently returned to competitive cricket after announcing his international retirement following his exclusion from the 2019 World Cup.
