Bedi, Sidhu don't figure in PCA's list of voting members
Only a handful of former cricketers are voting members of the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA).This came to light after the association finally made its list of voting members public by putting it up on its website.
From the 182 members, only 9 are former cricketers.Punjab's famed former crick eters like Bishen Singh Bedi, Navjot Singh Sidhu, Mohinder Amarnath, Reetinder Sodhi and Harvinder Singh aren't voting members of the association. Not a single cricketer from the 1992-93 Ranji Trophy-winning squad is a voting member of the body. Gursharan Singh, the captain of the 92-93 team, Bhupinder Singh Sr, Bharti Vij, Sapan Chopra are all missing from the list. The cricketers who figure in the list are former general secretary of PCA MP Pan dove, head of BCCI's pitches committee Daljit Singh, RP Singla, Rakesh Rathore, Rameshwar Dayal Singh, Akash Lal, Vinod Sharma, Maheshinder Singh and Balwant Singh.
The convenor of PCA 's adhoc committee, which is running the day-to-day affairs of the association, RP Singla, told TOI that ex-cricketers have been "adjusted in other roles".
"PCA has got several former cricketers in its fold. Some of them are coaches of our junior, sub-junior and senior teams, some are umpires, others are there in districts and some are running academies," he said."There are some (former cricketers) who don't want to join our fold, what can we do if they don't want to join us," Singla added.
Bhupinder Singh Sr, who is the president of the players association PCPA (Pun Cricket Players Association) and a member of the 92-93 Ranji-winning team, felt that people at the helm of affairs of the association for nearly four decades have totally destroyed the faith that cricketers had in PCA.
"It is incredible that not a single member of the Ranji winning team is a voting member of PCA. That Ranji victory is Punjab's only win ever, and look how the people at the helm of affairs of PCA for nearly four decades have treated us. They have treated cricketing heroes and achievers on the field as second-class citizens," Bhupinder said.
The PCA will be holding its Annual General Meeting on September 24 and elect its new office bearers.
The nominations for the elections will be filed on September 23. The 182 voting members will elect the new office bearers.
The major chunk of voting members are IAS and IPS officers and others are bureaucrats.It also has politicians from Congress, BJP and Akali Dal.
Former president I S Bindra and his son Amarinder Bindra, former general secretary MP Pandove and his son Kunal Pandove, R P Pandove (MP Pandove's brother), and former secretary GS Walia and his son are all prominent voting members.
After avoiding it for a long time, the PCA decided to make its voting members list public since the Supreme Court had ordered the state associations to reveal the names of its members. If the PCA had gone ahead with its September 24 elections without making the voting members list public, it would have amounted to contempt of court.
Only a handful of former cricketers are voting members of the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA).This came to light after the association finally made its list of voting members public by putting it up on its website.
From the 182 members, only 9 are former cricketers.Punjab's famed former cricketers like Bishen Singh Bedi, Navjot Singh Sidhu, Mohinder Amarnath, Reetinder Sodhi and Harvinder Singh aren't voting members of the association. Not a single cricketer from the 1992-93 Ranji Trophy-winning squad is a voting member of the body. Gursharan Singh, the captain of the 92-93 team, Bhupinder Singh Sr, Bharti Vij, Sapan Chopra are all missing from the list. The cricketers who figure in the list are former general secretary of PCA MP Pandove, head of BCCI's pitches committee Daljit Singh, RP Singla, Rakesh Rathore, Rameshwar Dayal Singh, Akash Lal, Vinod Sharma, Maheshinder Singh and Balwant Singh.
The convenor of PCA 's adhoc committee, which is running the day-to-day affairs of the association, RP Singla, told TOI that ex-cricketers have been "adjusted in other roles".
"PCA has got several former cricketers in its fold. Some of them are coaches of our junior, sub-junior and senior teams, some are umpires, others are there in districts and some are running academies," he said."There are some (former cricketers) who don't want to join our fold, what can we do if they don't want to join us," Singla added.
Bhupinder Singh Sr, who is the president of the players association PCPA (Pun Cricket Players Association) and a member of the 92-93 Ranji-winning team, felt that people at the helm of affairs of the association for nearly four decades have totally destroyed the faith that cricketers had in PCA.
"It is incredible that not a single member of the Ranji winning team is a voting member of PCA. That Ranji victory is Punjab's only win ever, and look how the people at the helm of affairs of PCA for nearly four decades have treated us. They have treated cricketing heroes and achievers on the field as second-class citizens," Bhupinder said.
The PCA will be holding its Annual General Meeting on September 24 and elect its new office bearers. The nominations for the elections will be filed on September 23. The 182 voting members will elect the new office bearers.
The major chunk of voting members are IAS and IPS officers and others are bureaucrats.It also has politicians from Congress, BJP and Akali Dal.Former president I S Bindra and his son Amarinder Bindra, former general secretary MP Pandove and his son Kunal Pandove, R P Pandove (MP Pandove's brother), and former secretary GS Walia and his son are all prominent voting members.After avoiding it for a long time, the PCA decided to make its voting members list public since the Supreme Court had ordered the state associations to reveal the names of its members. If the PCA had gone ahead with its September 24 elections without making the voting members list public, it would have amounted to contempt of court.
(Courtesy: The Times of India)
