by board did not fancy the prospect of Azharuddin, at what is easily his
favourite cricketing venue, possibly making a ton of runs. In their
estimation, this would only add fuel to the growing media and public
fire, as demands for his reinstatement have been mounting of late.
To circumvent this, say board sources, it was decided to shift the
venue to Agartala.
Read more about this witchhunt on:
http://www.rediff.com/sports/1999/dec/01duleep.htm
Controversy mounts as Azhar pulls out of Duleep Trophy
The Rediff Team
What, precisely, is going on in Indian cricket?
The question begs the asking, in light of events connected with the
Duleep Trophy fixture between South Zone and North Zone, which begins
in Agartala today.
As the BCCI fixtures had it, the game was to have been played at the
Eden Gardens, with Agartala being allotted the final.
At the last minute, on the pretext that there is likely to be a general
strike in Agartala on the 9th of this month, the venues were
interchanged, and the South versus North fixture was shifted to the
Maharaja Bir Bikram Singh Stadium in Agartala.
Behind the scenes, though, the buzz in BCCI corridors was that the
board did not fancy the prospect of Azharuddin, at what is easily his
favourite cricketing venue, possibly making a ton of runs. In their
estimation, this would only add fuel to the growing media and public
fire, as demands for his reinstatement have been mounting of late.
To circumvent this, say board sources, it was decided to shift the
venue to Agartala.
Specious? Perhaps. However, as the buzz mounted and controversy swirled
around the abrupt change of venue, Azhar himself added an edge to the
confusion by pulling out of the South Zone team, of which he was named
captain, at the last minute.
He has not assigned any reason, nor is he available for comment.
Whatever the reason, Azhar's pullout has further damaged the prospects
of South, which contributes more than half the members of the squad now
doing duty in Australia. Robin Singh has taken over the captaincy, and
will lead his zone against a full-strength North led by Vikram Rathore.
North Zone, interestingly, will only miss the services of Harbajan
Singh, part of the Indian squad in Australia. But then, North has
Nikhil Chopra by way of makeweight for Harbajan.
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