Venkateshwar Reddy Appeals for BCCI Support to Promote Rural Cricket
Hyderabad: A. Venkateshwar Reddy, former chairman of Sports Authority of Telangana State (SATS), has appealed to Union minister G. Kishan Reddy to use his good offices in getting affiliation to the Telangana Districts Cricket Association (TDCA) from the BCCI to promote cricket in rural areas of the state.
In a memorandum to Kishan Reddy, Venkateshwar Reddy said that the Hyderabad Cricket Association, embroiled in a number of cases and allegations of corruption, had ignored cricket in the districts, failed failed to improve infrastructure, coaching centres and conduct tournaments. Not a single player from rural areas was selected for the state, national, IPL teams, he said
“We have been continuously hearing about the irregularities, manipulation in the construction of Uppal Stadium by the HCA (Hyderabad Cricket Association) and in the selection of players. As many as 42 members of HCA have been booked in ACB (Anti Corruption Bureau) and other agencies in various cases”, he said, and added the TDCA with the background of professional cricketers can only work to promote Cricket in Telangana.
He pointed out the BCCI had given membership to 37 regions in the country as it is greatly helping the players from those regions in all formats, but rural areas of Telangana have been completely ignored, he said.