Kochi: Acting tough, the Kerala Cricket Association (KCA) has barred five Ranji team players for three one-day matches and fined eight for conspiring against skipper Sachin Baby.
The KCA action came after the players signed a letter in July seeking removal of the 29-year-old captain. Former Kerala Ranji skippers Raiphi Vincent Gomez and Rohan Prem and senior players Sandeep Warrier, K M Asif and Mohammed Azharuddeen were barred for three matches. Apart from the three-match ban, they have also been asked to pay their fees for three matches.
Eight players — Sanju Samson, V A Jagadeesh, M D Nidheesh, Abhishek Mohan, K C Akshay, Fabid Farooq, Salman Nisar and Sijomon Joseph — have been asked to pay three days' match fees.
The entire amount will go to the chief minister’s relief fund being raised for those affected by the recent floods in the state. The KCA has also sought an explanation from all the players within 10 days. The charges against them included hatching a plot to split the team.
Following this, the players were called for an examination. Besides, four players were served show-cause notice for going on a two-day trip to Mangalore during the KSCA Trophy tournament in Bangalore last month. These players were Sanju, Azharuddeen, Salman and Akshay Chandran.
Controversial letter
Trouble began when 13 Kerala cricket players signed a letter on July 12 to the KCA, seeking removal of Sachin. During the KSCA Tournament in Bangalore, the players accused Sachin of being “selfish, arrogant and temperamental.” The skipper “behaves in an authoritarian style (when the team wins he will take credit and when the team lose (sic) he put the blame on the players) all the time,” they said in the letter.
The letter went on to add that the team members were “very much disturbed, demoralized, hurt and are losing focus.” “Moreover, it is disheartening to note that he is also in the habit of talking in the back of players and also speaking ill of one player or the other...”
The players also noted that the team “reached the (Ranji) quarterfinal stage last year only because of the committed efforts of the players and coaches” and “a few committed youngsters had moved out of our state to represent other states this year only because of the harassment meted out to them by the captain last year.”
“All the members of our team feel that the captaincy may be changed, which will be in the best of interest of our team,” the letter said. “Hence we urge the team management to request the office-bearers and selectors to find an alternate person who could lead the team in a much professional way,” it concluded.
Top stars behind
During a meeting with officials, the junior players told the KCA that it was senior members, including former skippers, who had triggered the war against Sachin. The Kerala veterans had, during their tour of Sri Lanka this summer, co-opted younger players into their plans against the skipper, the juniors told KCA.
Azharudheen, who is a wicketkeeper-batsman, was given the task of mustering support from fellow players against Sachin, the juniors said. The signature campaign was being carried out over a few days in a Colombo hotel room where a former skipper and a young player were staying. No player interrogated revealed who drafted the letter and opened the email ID.
P Rahul and Vishnu Vinod, who haven’t signed the letter, said they expressed unwillingness to join the anti-Sachin campaign when approached. Jagadeesh, a senior player, said he signed on the letter because most others did it, adding that he has committed a wrong.
Skipper Sachin, a left-handed batsman who also bowls right-arm off break, said he was strict about team practice and discipline. On this matter, he had a problem in Sri Lanka with a former captain of the team, said Sachin from Adimali in Idukki district.
The KCA, affiliated to the BCCI, is also the parent body of the state’s 14 district cricket associations.
