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Rajasthan captain Deepak Hooda has drawn everyone's attention for his 'out of control' protest against the ad hoc panel over selection calls amidst ongoing Ranji Trophy season. Sports Star reported that Deepak Hooda was unhappy with certain player selection decisions, leading him to skip the team's practice session on the eve of their Ranji Trophy 2024-25 Elite Group B match against Hyderabad at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium.
Rajasthan captain Deepak Hooda launches protest against ad hoc panel over selection calls
It seems that the issues between Hooda and the team management have been ongoing since the start of the season. There have been reports of disagreements between the ad-hoc panel, Hooda, and the coach.
“This has been an issue since the start of the season. There have been multiple disagreements over player selection between the ad hoc panel and the captain and coach. However, yesterday, things got a bit out of control as the captain, although he came for the practice session, continued to sit out. He was constantly on his phone, busy on calls with the ad hoc committee members and the Sports Minister (Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore),” a source told Sports Star.
According to Sportstar, a member of the ad-hoc committee threatened to resign if their suggestions were not considered.
The ad-hoc panel, led by BJP MLA Jaideep Bihani, was established in March to oversee cricket activities and facilitate elections for the state body. Ratan Singh serves as the convener, assisted by Pawan Goyal, Dharmveer Singh Shekhawat, and Harish Singh. Kunal had scored 59 runs in the second innings against Puducherry. Despite the ongoing disagreements, Hooda attended Tuesday's team meeting. The coach and a core group of four players, including vice-captain Deepak Chahar, expressed their support for the captain.
Addressing the ongoing tension between Hooda and the committee, Dharmveer Singh Shekhawat acknowledged that differing opinions are inevitable when multiple individuals are involved in decision-making.
“These things happen when there are a number of people trying to make a decision. The more the heads, more the opinions. It isn’t wrong and it is not a controversy. The captain wanted wicketkeeper-batter Kunal Singh Rathore to continue despite the fact that he hasn’t performed for a while now. He has hit only one fifty in his last three games,” Dharmveer Singh said, as quoted by Sports Star.
“We have been accommodating enough to include the captain and coach in all our team selection meetings. Kunal didn’t make the initial 15 but the captain was not willing to take the field without him. We decided to listen to him because he felt his addition would be good for the team. I had a chat with the convenor and captain. I just wished (Kunal) Rathore well. We all want him to perform. It is just that we felt Rajkumar Saini would have been a good choice. He has done well in the domestic circuit,” Dharamveer added.
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Dharmveer stated that the Sports Minister has consistently advocated for fair selection based on merit. Despite reports suggesting that Hooda and Chahar had threatened to resign from their leadership positions if not given complete autonomy, both Dharmveer and a source within the association denied these claims
