DDCA chief sacks senior selection committee after selection chaos

Rohan Jaitley, the Delhi & Districts Cricket Association (DDCA) president, has sacked the state's senior selection committee a day after reports of infighting within the panel and "dubious selection" emerged. He has voiced out his "disapproval of the manner in which the men's selection committee is discharging its duties".On Tuesday, selectors Gagan Khoda, the committee chief, and Mayank Sidana had a public fallout, leading to Sidana staging a walkout of a meeting to pick Delhi's Under-25 squad for the upcoming CK Nayudu Trophy fixture. The pair is also believed to have disagreed on a number of selections made for Delhi's Ranji Trophy squad for their away game against Saurashtra in Rajkot, which they lost by an innings and 214 runs inside three days.In sharp focus was their decision to hand Ayush Badoni, a middle-order batter, a first-class debut as an opener and drop regular wicketkeeper Anuj Rawat. Delhi are currently second-last in Group B, with no wins in four matches.For now, DDCA's Cricket Advisory Committee comprising Nikhil Chopra, Gursharan Singh and Reema Malhotra will select the team for the remainder of the season."The issue of manner in which players are being selected and replaced at the drop of a hat has become talk of the town," Jaitley wrote in an e-mail to DDCA's apex council and CAC members. "Recently in a meeting, it was informed that a replacement was sent for a senior player who was stated to be injured, the replacement while reaching there was also declared to be injured and another replacement was sent."Jaitley also expressed his displeasure at the selection committee picking 20-22 players when BCCI's directive mandates just 15 squad members traveling for reach game."Despite clearly informing the committee that the number of players shall be restricted to 15-16 players, the committee has time and again recommended 20-22 member squad for each team," Jaitley wrote. "Therefore, these committees are not only doing disservice to the DDCA but also to the game of cricket."Jaitley was also "hurt"