No coloured clothing, play in whites boys!

So, all the major private hot weather tournaments in the national Capital are over. The Lala Raghubirs, the GG Dutts and Om Nath Soods are done and dusted for this year. And here comes the big one --- the DDCA Hot Weather tournament. It is going to be inaugurated on Sunday morning, June 28, at 7.30 am. So those of you interested in having a look, can drop in. There are going to be fireworks and we’ll tell you why.

The tournament, which is the centrepiece of all cricket in Delhi and in a way marks the culmination of the long league season, wouldn’t have had it as bad as this, ever since the BCCI money started flowing into DDCA coffers.

It has been wrought into a bad shape by the continuing squabbling and factionalism (There, there... and I am getting started on it all over again. But you probably know by now the stuff going in the DDCA, the warring parties, the frozen account and that un-submitted balance sheet).

On Friday, news emerged from the headquarters that this time the Hot Weather will be played in white clothes and with a red cherry, the way cricket traditionally has always been played. Over the years, the BCCI money had brought in coloured clothing, white ball and a day-night final under lights at the Ferozeshah Kotla.

For many old-timers, it was a cheap gimmick. The white clothing was anyway smarter, more handsome than the ill-matching coloured clothing. You’d have all those 50-odd teams getting some limited number of coloured clothing and the players would turn up like some circus characters. There’d be pyjamas of one bright colour and jersey of another bright colour and you’d feel if they have walked out straight out of their bed or are gearing up as extras for a dance sequence of a Devang Patel song.

But then one-day international and national level cricket is played with a white ball and in coloured clothing and that’s the way the system has to groom the young ones for the future. And hence the decision to splurge money on clothes, floodlights and of course, since the teams are too many and there being not enough colour combinations, those odd colour combinations.

Friday’s message from the DDCA, released by the joint convenor, tournament organising committee, Mr Vijay Bahadur Mishra, stated, “This is to inform all the participating clubs in the DDCA Hot Weather cricket tournament that matches will be played with red ball and white dress.”

The reason of course is attributed to a lack of funds. We know the DDCA is facing cash crunch due to its own follies. There is so much money around to be had and used, but it is just a clash of egos that is stalling the process.

Would Mr Dev let the account get de-frozen? No, because probably his Sar jhuk jayega. Would Mr Tihara, who is crying hoarse over the state of local cricket, press his close friend and ally Mr Dev to de-freeze the account so that close to 7 crore rupees are released. Or would he continue with these rants despite knowing everything? Or would Mr CK Khanna, firmly ensconced over the sorry affairs, fund the clothes and white balls from his pocket? After all he is the BCCI vice-president too and can use his good offices. Or will Mr Sneh Bansal, who has been accused of ‘round-tripping’ of 1.55 crore rupees and whose acts, as per Mr Kirti Azad, are part of reason why the balance sheet hasn’t been submitted, step in or will he just hang onto his throne.

These are questions that deserve some solid and quick answers. On Friday, a piece of news emerged that a match has been played at the Ferozeshah Kotla with torn sightscreen.

Hell, now we don’t even have a proper sightscreen. Or someone’s playing tricks. Or someone’s bluffing and creating panic situation. DDCA itni phateechar ho gayee hai kya?

Anyway the good news is that Hot Weather will happen although in circumstances not conducive to train ODI cricketers. We are not even sure if the white clothing will be provided by the DDCA Sports Working Committee. They have hinted at uncertainty over this.

So don’t be surprised if the players turn out in some old whites. By the way, some of the old-timers or aesthetically sensitive people wouldn’t mind that.