Row over selection of PCA chief selector’s son in Punjab U-19 team

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 30

The Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) has denied allegations of nepotism made against its junior selection committee in the selection of the Punjab Under-19 team. The Pun Cricket Players Association (PCPA) had accused that Chirag Sharma, who happens to be the son of PCA’s senior selection committee chairman Yashpal Sharma, had been favoured in the selection of the state Under-19 team.

PCPA president Bhupinder Singh (Sr) had pointed out the matter to the Indian cricket board, requesting the Committee of Administrators convener Vinod Rai to look into the matter and “do justice to the deserving boys”. Bhupinder said another player, Amritsar’s Salil Arora, was more deserving of selection than Chirag. “Chirag (wicketkeeper/batsman who represented Ludhiana) scored only 74 runs in five innings in three matches at an average of 14.80,” Bhupinder said. “They have ignored Salil Arora of Amritsar (also a wicketkeeper/batsman), who scored 198 runs in eight innings and was the member of the winning team. This is sheer injustice to players like Salil Arora, who have done nothing wrong but have become victim of corruption in the game.”

Keeper/batsman or batsman/keeper?

Under-19 selection committee chairman Amit Uniyal today denied the allegations. He did not deny that Chirag Sharma’s performance as a batsman had been inferior to Salil Arora’s. But he said that the selectors were looking for a wicketkeeper/batsman and not a batsman/wicketkeeper! In other words, their focus was on the wicketkeeping skills rather than batting skills. “We were looking at a back-up wicketkeeper/batsman and not a batsman/wicketkeeper,” Uniyal stated today.

Still unfair

Bhupinder said that the explanation made by Uniyal today was not backed by facts. He said even the performance of Salil as a wicketkeeper was superior to Chirag’s. “Chirag has only two catches and two stumpings from three matches,” said Bhupinder. “Salil Arora has a superior record. He has nine catches and four stumpings from five matches. How can they select Chirag above Salil? This is clearly a case of nepotism. What’s the point of these matches if the good performers in them are going to be ignored?”

Bhupinder said that Chirag had tried his luck in junior cricket in Haryana and Delhi earlier, and hinted that it’s only due to his father’s presence in PCA that he made it to the Punjab squad.

“He has tried earlier for Haryana and Delhi,” said Bhupinder. “For Haryana, it was in the U-16 category, and in the U-19 age-group for Delhi. But he was not selected. PCA is playing with words and logic to explain his selection in the Punjab U-19 team.”