Uttarakhand cricket team became the owners of one of the most shameful cricketing records after they lost the quarterfinal of the ongoing Ranji Trophy 2022 to Mumbai by a record margin of 725 runs. This is the highest margin of defeat in all First-Class matches in terms of runs.
However, there is more to the eye, as a renowned journalist, Jamie Alter discovered in his piece for News9live outlet. Not everything is rosy for the Uttarakhand cricketers due to corruption in the state board and lack of facilities and monetary compensations for the players, as revealed in the article.
In an eye-opening piece, Alter reveals that officially, the DA for each Uttarakhand senior cricketer is Rs 1,500 and this is known to drop to Rs 1,000 and rise to Rs 2,000. The reality, however, is that for the last 12 months the cricketers have, on average, been given a paltry Rs 100 per day. This was less than the minimum wage for an unskilled laborer in the state, which is Rs 800.
For the financial year ending March 31, 2021, the Uttarakhand Cricket Association (CAU) in its audit report, noted by News9Live, the CAU has claimed expenses of Rs 1,74,07,346 for food and catering, and Rs 49,58,750 for daily allowances. Even more shockingly, there are expenses worth Rs 35 lakh for bananas and water bottles worth Rs 22 lakh. And players get Rs 100 per day as an allowance.
Uttarakhand was bowled out for 69 in their second innings by 41-time Ranji champions Mumbai and their spirits are sapped not just by four chastening days on the field but by the mental anguish of not knowing when they will be paid or fed properly by the association that is supposed to take care of the team. The players are tired, frustrated, bitter, insecure, and disillusioned.
As per official state association documentation accessed by News9 Sports, the following five office bearers were elected to the CAU as of September 28, 2019: Jot Singh Gunsola (President), Sanjay Rawat (Vice-President), Mahim Verma (Secretary), Anvish Verma (Joint Secretary), Prithvi Singh Negi (Treasurer) and a sixth individual, Deepak Mehra, was voted in as a member of the Apex Council.
Apart from this, Mahim Verma is shown in the capacity of Joint Secretary, CAU.
Even the captain of the team Jay Bista is frustrated by the lack of clarity. Also fearing for the future of Uttarakhand cricket are the parents of kids who are trying to make it into the professional setup. Bista rues the lack of food and nutrition provided and the fact that players have to pay from their own pocket to feed themselves while on the road for domestic tournaments.
The Father of an aspiring cricketer has claimed that the CAU has not fixed any criteria for selection and picks and drops players based on sifaarish (recommendation). Players from other states are given preference over local cricketers. On parent even revealed that his son Arya Sethi received death threats despite his very good performance in Ranji Trophy and Vijay Hazare Trophy.
As Jamie Alter outlines, this is the ground reality of a state not lacking in cricketing talent. Players are insecure, parents are fearful, and running out of money to support their children's aspirations.
Check out the full article here
(Jamie Alter/News9Live inputs)
