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A little over a month ago, the Telangana Cricket Association (TCA) elected a new Governing Council and an Apex Council for a period of three years. DK Aruna was made the chairperson of the Governing Council and BB Patil the new president, while Bandi Sanjay, Bandaru Dattatreya, Konda Vishweshwar Reddy, and N Ramchander Rao are to serve as patrons.
For anyone familiar with Telangana politics, the pattern emerges at once. All these are top leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). DK Aruna, Bandi Sanjay, and Vishweshwar Reddy are BJP MPs, Ramchander Rao is the state unit president while BB Patil and Bandaru Dattatreya are former MPs.
In addition, Dharam Guruva Reddy, the BJP’s state sports cell in-charge, was made the general secretary of the TCA.
Since its inception in 2014, the TCA has been demanding that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the principal national governing body for cricket, do away with the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) and instead make TCA the body that governs cricket activities in Telangana.
Currently, it is the HCA that has control over cricket administration in the state. But it has been mired in scandal for several years – just this year, six of its members were arrested for financial fraud.
With the latest appointments, the TCA’s push for replacing HCA gains more momentum.
Senior sports journalist Sharda Ugra told TNM that multiple cricketing bodies have represented cricket in a state.
“When it comes to princely states, multiple bodies represent cricketing interests. Gujarat for instance has the Gujarat, Baroda and Saurashtra Cricket Associations. Maharashtra has Vidarbha, Mumbai and Maharashtra Cricket Associations. Considering the presence of senior BJP leadership, the chances of the TCA getting membership in the BCCI is now high – which means another vote in the BCCI.”
The HCA’s many scandals
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)’s probe in 2000 accused veteran cricketer Mohammad Azharuddin – who later became HCA president – of fixing three One Day International (ODI) matches between 1996 and 1999. He was subsequently banned by the International Cricket Council (ICC) and BCCI. In 2012, the Andhra Pradesh High Court overturned the lifetime ban.
Seven years later, Azhar was elected president of the HCA. He was accused of misappropriating and diverting HCA funds between 2020 and 2023.
Read: The mess in Hyderabad Cricket Association: How Azharuddin lost the game
With his recent appointment as the Minorities Welfare and Public Enterprises Minister in the Telangana Cabinet, Guruva Reddy alleged that he would continue influencing the HCA.
“Azharuddin should be put behind bars or sent to Pakistan,” Guruva Reddy told TNM angrily.
He also accused Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president KTR and his sister and former BRS leader Kalvakuntla Kavitha of mismanaging HCA. BRS was in power in Telangana from 2014-2023. “The siblings misused their position of power in the former Telangana Cabinet to manipulate the HCA,” he alleged.
Meanwhile, six office bearers of the HCA, including the president A Jagan Mohan Rao, were arrested in July this year by the Telangana Crime Investigation Department (CID). According to the CID, the HCA office bearers forged documents with an intent to misappropriate funds.
Apart from this, HCA office bearers were also under the scanner following the Vigilance and Enforcement Wing’s report to the Telangana government regarding alleged irregularities related to ticket allocation and governance within the association during the 2025 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Guruva Reddy also alleged that the HCA does not function in keeping with the Supreme Court appointed RM Lodha Committee’s recommendations. The committee, appointed in 2015, was tasked among other things to analyse and recommend implementable actions for improving the BCCI and state cricket bodies.
Even though committee recommendations state that a member should not continue for more than nine years in any cricketing body, the TCA alleged that several members continue to be a part of the HCA for longer than that.
Guruva Reddy also alleged that HCA does not publish annual audited financial statements or explain how money received from the BCCI has been spent.
“They get Rs 100 crore every year for developing cricket, but in the last 15 years no infrastructure has been built nor talent programmes conducted properly,” he said.
The TCA was formed with the stated aim of “connecting Telangana rural areas with the global arena", which Guruva Reddy said the HCA has not pursued actively.
He said that HCA members in charge of districts operated out of Hyderabad. “HCA’s vision has long been confined to Hyderabad alone. They aren’t an umbrella organisation. On paper, they have one member each who works for nine other districts, but seven of them live in Hyderabad. It is technically a public office. It’s like MLAs and collectors of other districts working out of Hyderabad without taking care of their jurisdiction,” he added.
Guruva Reddy claimed that the TCA was better equipped to handle Telangana’s cricket affairs than HCA. “HCA has been represented by north Indian communities or people who aren’t of Telangana origin or keen on promoting local youth from districts. In stark contrast, TCA has a registered database of 20,000 cricketers and 60 centres running with office bearers who have put in their own money and are promoting cricket in the state. We as such have more of a claim to promote and administer cricket in Telangana than HCA does,” he maintained.
HCA denies charges
Speaking to TNM on the condition of anonymity, a member of the HCA rejected the allegations. “All our eight members are based out of districts. We also give incremental funds and support to each district. Of the eight centres under our control in various districts, we also plan to build academies that train young cricketers residing in districts,” he added.
The HCA member acknowledged that traditionally there has been more focus on Hyderabad cricket. “But with the current supervisory committee comprising Justice Naveen Rao and the Apex Council, the focus is on district cricket. We have 3,000 registered cricketers who have played in leagues, at the district and state levels,” he stated.
“We have one registered parcel of land in Mahabubnagar and a new turf in Karimnagar. These are our own properties. We have rented centres in other districts. We’re trying to ensure that land is being allocated in all districts,” he added.
TCA’s claim to BCCI recognition
In 2021, BCCI rejected TCA’s application seeking associate membership of the BCCI. They, however, directed the HCA to meet with TCA representatives to understand their concerns.
The meeting wasn’t held for four years, prompting a division bench of the Bombay High Court to pull up BCCI and ask it to ensure there was a “logical end” to the issue.
Guruva Reddy said that the meeting between the TCA and the HCA president and its Apex Council finally happened on March 29 this year, but was without fruit. According to the minutes of the meeting furnished by Guruva Reddy, then HCA president Jagan Mohan Rao heard TCA’s complaints but did not respond to any of their issues.
When TNM contacted HCA’s acting president Daljeet Singh, he said that until there was a discussion regarding TCA’s issues in the HCA general body meeting, there was no response to be given.
A senior sports journalist based out of Telangana told TNM that the BCCI would never grant affiliation to TCA because then several others will likely demand it as well. “Telangana Districts Cricket Association president A Venkateshwar Reddy, who was also the former chairman of the Sports Authority of Telangana State, too tried to get BCCI recognition but did not succeed. The easier process would have been to set up a cricket club, become a part of HCA, and contest elections,” he said on the condition of anonymity.
He acknowledged that it might well be an attempt by the TCA to put political pressure but does not believe it will not work. “That being said, several of TCA’s allegations do hold merit. HCA does suffer from a mismanagement crisis,” he added.
TCA refutes BJP interference
In spite of the recent appointment of high-profile BJP leaders as members, Guruva Reddy claimed that the TCA isn’t politically motivated.
“The question of BJP involvement lacks credibility. Konda Vishweshwar Reddy was in BRS when he joined TCA, as was BB Patil. DK Aruna was in Congress. We align with certain progressive policies of the BJP-led Union government but TCA has nothing to do with the party,” he remarked. He also added that BJP does not contribute funds to the TCA.
However, aside from popular politicians like DK Aruna, several names in the TCA are from the BJP. The three-member Governing Council also includes Y Lakshminarayana, the vice president of BJP’s Telangana unit, and Nune Balraj, the BJP central coordinator for Telangana. P Vijay Chander Reddy, a state executive member of the Telangana BJP, is the TCA’s new vice president, while BJP leader Vedire Sriram is among the patrons.
State BJP president Ramchander Rao echoed Guruva Reddy’s comments. “Our role (referring to BJP leaders in the TCA) is only honorary and TCA is not a BJP-backed entity and not involved in sporting activities. Guruva Reddy has been fighting against HCA’s capture by the previous ruling party and we believe that sports should be free from political interference of this kind,” he said.
“We all have a personal relationship with Guruva Reddy but we haven’t even attended any meetings so far. If a need arises and the TCA needs support of any kind, we will help. But such a need hasn’t arisen till now,” Rao added.