Lalchand Rajput alleges MCA secretaries of favouritism in selection; calls his removal as CIC chief unethical

The former chief of the Cricket Improvement Committee (CIC) of the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA), Lalchand Rajput had raised a plethora of allegations on the working of the MCA secretaries.

Rajput, 59, has alleged that the Secretaries in MCA Sanjay Naik and Shahalam Sheikh had chosen two players on their own, without any meeting of the selection committee, to represent Mumbai in the recently concluded Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2021. He went on to the extent of saying that even selectors would back his claim.

"The selectors are willing to testify the interference e.g., the inclusion of two players in the 20 selected by senior team selectors for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2021 (SMAT) after BCCI allowed 22 players due to Covid, instead of 20," Cricbuzz quoted Rajput via his letter to the Ethics officer of the Mumbai Cricket Association.

"The same two players were included in the XI in some matches of the SMAT. Also, a left-arm bowler, who was not in the original 20, who was a No 11 batsman, was made to open the innings in the SMAT (sic). This was a blatant violation on the part of the secretaries to interfere in the working of the CIC," Rajput, the manager of the 2007 T20 World Cup-winning team further mentioned in his letter.

Currently, the coach of the Zimbabwe national team, Rajput’s role as CIC chief became a matter of conflict of interest. Citing that the CIC was dismantled by the MCA and the other two members of the CIC, former India cricketers Raju Kulkarni and Sameer Dighe were also relieved of their roles.

Challenging that decision, Rajput wrote, "The power and authority, as per the constitution clause No 39 is given to the Ethics Officer.” During his tenure, Rajput also termed appointment of Amol Mazumdar as coach of Mumbai as blatant misuse of power by Secretaries and appointed Romesh Powar as the coach, quashing the previous appointment.

As of now, no official response has come from MCA on the allegations.

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