Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir in DDCA cricket panel

Virender Sehwag

Having won many a battles for India on the cricket field, the hit opening pair of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir will now be padding up together off the field after being named in the newly formed Cricket Committee of Delhi & Districts Cricket Association (DDCA).

Sehwag and Gambhir will be joined by their one time teammates Aakash Chopra and Rahul Sanghvi as they would chalk out the roadmap for Delhi cricket along with powers to select coaches, selectors and other issues related to the game. While DDCA president Rajat Sharma in a press release stated that the appointments have been done as per Lodha Committee recommendations, the powers and scope of the committee has again given rise to questions on Conflict of Interest.

Some of the questions being asked are how can Gambhir being an active cricketer have a say in selection of selectors, who will in turn select him? Gambhir, incidentally, was government representative in DDCA last year, a move that was stalled by former administrator Justice Vikramajeet Sen. Once Sharma faction came to power it was known that Gambhir would be given an important position.

Sehwag has a cricket academy and is also an expert on India TV, the channel owned by the DDCA president himself. Sanghvi is associated with IPL franchise Mumbai Indians while Aakash is an expert on various news channels. The last two are now settled in Mumbai. DDCA secretary Vinod Tihara admitted that this is a practical issue but for them paramount was having the top names in Delhi cricket on board.

Asked if the committee will be honorary or get remuneration, Tihara told PTI: "We haven't decided on that part but Gautam will be a special invitee." When further asked if he would have a say in selection of selectors and coach, Tihara replied: "Of course he would have a role. I understand your question on Conflict of Interest but if we strictly follow Lodha recommendations, we won't get quality people on cricket committee. "For us it was important that we form a panel that has eminence and knowledge. This panel has both. If we start nitpicking, we will not get good enough people," Tihara maintained.

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