SC reforms a welcome change, says DDCA president Rajat Sharma

NEW DELHI: Newly-elected president of the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA), Rajat Sharma will need to carry out the changes in Delhi cricket’s administration while keeping in line with the Supreme Court-approved BCCI constitution. He tells TOI how he plans to go about it.
Excerpts:
The first major task before you would be to amend the constitution as per the Supreme Court-approved Lodha recommendations.How difficult is it keeping in mind that the DDCA is registered under the Companies Act?
The Draft Constitution of DDCA in line with new BCCI constitution as well as SC judgement is under preparation. Our CEO is working on it with a team of legal experts. I am told that it will take a few days more since DDCA is registered under the Companies Act.
There will be practical difficulties in implementing the reforms…
The reforms directed by the Supreme Court are a welcome change. There are bound to be practical difficulties as there is some difference between the functioning of the BCCI and state associations. But, we have decided first to adopt the constitution and then talk to BCCI about the practical difficulties.
One of the key aspects of Lodha reforms is transparency and no administrative monopolies. How do you plan to sustain that given that there are so many dissenting voices in the DDCA?
I don’t think there are many dissenting voices in DDCA. Time has changed. Difference of opinion is welcome but any disruption will not be tolerated. The SC order is actually a blessing for the associations. It has provided an opportunity to bring professionals and cricketers. Obviously there are some elements who are not happy with this. They are doing everything under there command to indirectly stop the process of reform and transform DDCA.
Your office seems to have entrusted senior cricketers with the responsibility of looking after cricket. But when it comes to Gautam Gambhir, how much of power can be given to an active player?
Gautam Gambhir apart from being a very passionate cricketer of international repute, is a government nominee on the DDCA Executive Committee. We had invited him for the first round of Executive Committee meeting as a specialist to give his inputs on current requirement of support for the cricket team. I must say that his inputs were very useful. Gautam has also given me several ideas for the welfare of Delhi cricketers.
Selection has always been a grey area in DDCA across all age-groups. How do you wish to sort this out and make sure selection meetings have been transparent and fair?
The process of selection has been completely left to the selectors. There will be no interference in their work. I had a meeting with selectors in presence of Virender Sehwag, Akash Chopra and Rahul Sangvi. I have told Sehwag that he should keep an eye on entire process of selection along with his team members.
DDCA has been fighting a lot of legal cases for years because of the construction of the Ferozeshah Kotla stadium. Every international and IPL match is under the cloud of uncertainty. Is there any solution to it?
I was actually surprised to see that DDCA is involved in so many court cases. I have asked the CEO and legal team to try and sort most of the cases through mediation. Supreme Court has also directed to appoint Ombudsman to reduce the burden of cricket related cases on the Courts.
There have been shortages of grounds during peak seasons and the Kotla cops a lot of flak for its shoddy facilities…
Improving infrastructure will take time. I don’t want to do anything on piecemeal basis. We are working on an overall plan to improve facilities after taking inputs from all stakeholders.