The Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) Sports Working Committee meeting last week invited much attention. The newly elected Sports Working Committee (SWC) of the DDCA decided to do a first in calling upon players (current and former), umpires, coaches and women cricketers.
A couple of key members of World Cup winning teams, were invited to make their points as well. Both Madan Lal and Virender Sehwag, known to speak their minds and not moderate their words dictated by the forum did exactly that.It was a run of emotions that was on display from Madan Lal to the DDCA members, an appeal to give up their egos, put their heads together and work towards a common goal with the rest of the stakeholders.
Virender Sehwag’s presence and words were brief but not without their impact. He began his innings with a surprising stance, defending the media that reports invariably reflected reality.
The scene of a girl requesting for fees to be enhanced to cover their conveyance expenses at the least was heart-wrenching and spoke of the misery that girls still go through to take up cricket as a career option. Gautam Vadehra, a member of the new SWC appealed that T20 as a format not be encouraged with younger teams if quality and technique were to be preserved.
The sum-up sessions by Chetan Chauhan (Vice-President, Executive Committee), SP Bansal (Hon. Gen. Secretary, Executive Committee) and Ramesh Sachdeva (Vice-President, SWC) all touched upon selection matters, women’s cricket and opening Cricket academies with indoor facilities among others that could see progress in what appeared to be sincere pledges of intent. Medical support to current players which has been in place for a while and Insurance and Pension schemes for former players which would follow soon were some of the efforts discussed.
This post was originally published here.