As anticipated, Delhi’s run in the premier Ranji Trophy ended with a whimper last week. Bolstered by Virat Kohli’s presence, the team registered a big win over the Railways in their final group league match, but it was not enough to take them to the next round. This marks the sixth consecutive year—excluding the 2020-21 season when the national championship was not organised due to Corona—that Delhi has failed to reach the quarterfinals of the men’s national championship.
The last time Delhi qualified for the knockout stage was eight years ago when the Rishabh Pant-led team reached the final in the 2017-18 season, only to lose to Faiz Fazal’s Vidarbha in Indore. Delhi’s previous Ranji Trophy triumph came 18 years ago in 2007-08 under Gautam Gambhir’s leadership. Overall, Delhi has won the Ranji Trophy seven times and finished as runners-up on eight occasions.
Across both men’s and women’s national tournaments in the last four years, Delhi has managed to win just one title—the women’s under-23 T20 Trophy this season. In contrast, smaller states like Uttarakhand and Pondicherry, despite having limited experience and resources, have performed better in the same period. On the other hand, Mumbai has won the Ranji Trophy a colossal 42 times, and is well on its way to the 43rd. In last season alone, Mumbai bagged four national men’s and women’s titles, were runners-up in two, and semi-finalists in another two. This performance won the Mumbai Cricket Association the award for the ‘Best Performance in BCCI Domestic Tournaments of 2023-24’.
Since 2017-18, the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) has been on a downward spiral, both on and off the field. Successive DDCA administrations have made grand claims that everything was hunky-dory, but the reality tells a different story, marred by allegations of mismanagement and impropriety.
Persistent issues in selection and administration
Fifteen years ago, selection controversies shook Delhi cricket at the start of the 2009-10 season when then-captain Virender Sehwag publicly slammed the DDCA for “too much interference and manipulation” in team selection. He even threatened to leave Delhi if “corruption” was not eradicated.
At the time, DDCA president Arun Jaitley, father of the current boss Rohan Jaitley, had promised a slew of measures to streamline the selection procedure. But nothing seems to have changed in the 15 years since, and Delhi, barring one-off good performances, have largely fared poorly in both men’s and women’s tournaments – significantly, with no one being held accountable for the appalling performances.
Rohan Jaitley has been DDCA president for over four years, and Delhi’s lackadaisical performances have continued unabated in this period and even before he took over in November 2020. In the last four domestic seasons since 2020-21, Delhi have plummeted to newer depths.
Forgettable Ranji campaign
Himmat Singh was appointed Delhi captain at the start of the season. But after Delhi’s campaign was derailed, he was replaced with Ayush Badoni after leading in the first four of the Group D league matches. Delhi’s shock nine-wicket defeat to minnows Chandigarh proved to be the last straw. That Himmat, one of the premier batsmen, was out of form also went against him. However, some people within the DDCA felt that the selectors’ decision to change captain midway through the tournament, that too with just one match left in the first phase of the Ranji Trophy before the long break, was not on.
To Badoni’s credit, he continued with his good form even after taking over the added responsibility of captaincy. This is amply reflected in his end-of-the-season numbers. In just five matches, he amassed 499 runs at a brilliant average of 83.16, coupled with an unbeaten 205 against Jharkhand. Yash Dhull, who was also sacked as captain last year after Delhi’s stunning loss to Pondicherry in the first match and replaced by Himmat, was the second-highest scorer this season (444 runs at 49.33 in seven matches, 2x100s, 1×50). Last year, Dhull was the top batter with 450 runs in seven games while Himmat had aggregated 411 in seven matches.
Delhi’s batting fluctuated between good and poor this year. After starting by taking the first-innings lead against Chhattisgarh, the batting rollercoaster continued, and that proved decisive. Visitors Tamil Nadu caused Delhi further embarrassment by enforcing the follow-on, though the home team escaped with a draw. And after a praiseworthy 10-wicket away win over hosts Assam, Delhi’s batting imploded against hosts and newcomers Chandigarh, and the visitors lost the match.
By the time Rishabh Pant joined Delhi for their penultimate group match against Saurashtra, who inflicted a telling defeat in Rajkot, and Kohli for the last encounter against the Railways at home, Delhi had probably given up mentally on qualification.
A source close to the selection committee admitted that the nine-wicket mauling in Chandigarh was “the proverbial last nail in Delhi’s coffin.” This defeat reflected on Delhi’s final standing on the table, as they eventually finished fourth in their group with 21 points. Only the top two teams progressed from each of the four pools, and Saurashtra and Tamil Nadu qualified with 25 points each from Group D.
Selectors ‘tied hands’
Delhi’s campaign never really took off, and as the tournament progressed, the wheels came off. At the start of the season, Himmat had said he wanted to win all three major men’s trophies this year. But he struggled with the bat, and his sacking from captaincy seems to have affected him, and he was dropped from the playing XI for two matches.
Selection remained one of the most contentious issues of the season, leaving many questions in the wake. Sources said that an “extra-constitutional authority,” who worked on instructions from the powers that be, had the final say in the selection of players. “Selectors had only limited say in selecting players. Teams were vetted by someone who had nothing to do with cricket, and who passed instructions on who to select and who not to,” said the source.
However, a source close to the senior selectors claimed that the Gursharan Singh-headed panel “enjoyed the freedom to pick teams.” “The selection committee was given a free hand to pick players. There was no interference from the management,” he claimed.
Too many players, too little stability
For seven Ranji Trophy matches, Delhi used 27 players—a number considered on the higher side. Out of these, as many as nine players, including Kohli, Pant, and Harshit Rana, played just one match each while four players appeared in just two games each. Five players took part in three games, and only two—Dhull and Sanat Sangwan—played all seven matches. While some people within the DDCA questioned the need to play so many, the source tried to justify the high number of players picked.
“Three players—Badoni, Hrithik Shokeen, and Anuj Rawat—were selected in the India A team for the Emerging Teams Asia Cup in Oman in October. So, consider their replacements among the list of 27. Then there were injuries to four players. Dhruv Kaushik had his webbing split in his first game of the season, and he was ruled out a few months without batting even once. Pranshu Vijayran tore his hamstring, also in his first match. Pacer Simarjeet Singh, too, was injured,” he explained.
High stakes
The roles of selectors, coaches, support staff, and others associated with the various teams come with substantial financial rewards. Last season, the DDCA faced widespread criticism for its inexplicable decision to appoint several ‘outsiders’—individuals with no familiarity with Delhi cricket or its players—to key positions.
Also Read: High stakes and suspense in the Ranji Trophy league’s final round
The senior men’s head coach was Devang Gandhi, who played all his cricket for Bengal. Former Services batsman Soumik Chatterjee was included in the men’s senior selection committee alongside Mayank Sidhana, a former Punjab player. Sidhana was shockingly reappointed in 2023-24 despite being sacked from the same position after a public spat with another ‘outsider,’ Gagan Khoda of Rajasthan, in 2022-23.
“These ‘outsiders’ knew nothing about Delhi’s cricketers but were appointed due to their connections. Gandhi took home around Rs.45 lakh for just one season, yet his accountability to Delhi cricket was zero. This season’s head coach, Sarandeep Singh, may receive even more. The men’s senior selectors earned around Rs 20 lakh last season. This year’s remuneration for everyone will be finalised before the financial year ends. Clearly, the stakes are high, so the selectors and coaching staff have been gagged this year,” said another source.
