New Delhi: Unrest has gripped Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) corridors again as former secretary Vinod Tihara has urged president Rohan Jaitley and other members of the Apex Council to call for a Special General Meeting for fresh elections for the secretary post. Following up on his previous emails to the cricket body, Tihara has highlighted how current secretary Ashok Sharma will be disqualified to hold the position after September 30. In a 28-page document addressed to all the office bearers, Tihara attached annexures supporting his claims and reiterated how Sharma will complete his cumulative tenure of nine years in office as Apex Council Member by September 30.“Mr Ashok Sharma, a current Director and Secretary of the DDCA will by 30th September 2025, complete a cumulative tenure of 9 years (3288 days) in office as Apex Council Member. Accordingly, completion of such tenure will result in Mr Ashok Sharma meeting disqualification threshold prescribed under the Constitution of the BCCI (as enforced by the Supreme Court of India under the Lodha Committee report) and the relevant provisions of the Constitution of DDCA duly revised and adopted in August 2018),” Tihara wrote in his letter.There is a lot of chatter in the DDCA over the matter since the last few weeks and a certain section of the cricket body feels Sharma wasn’t a “office bearer” and just a Director in his previous terms, and is eligible to continue. “There are too many theories floating around. One says something, one says another. Whatever it is, let’s get done with it now. The season is on us and the last thing DDCA needs right now is more confusion and chaos. If Ashok Sharma is not eligible, then there shouldn’t be a problem for fresh elections. We should stick to the rules. Cricket can’t suffer,” says a very influential DDCA member.
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TimesofIndia.com reached out to President Jaitley and Secretary Sharma for a comment but both didn’t respond to our queries. The story will be updated the moment any of them responds.Both Sharma and Tihara had a very close contest during the 2024 polls for the Secretary position where the former won by a margin of 149 votes. It will be interesting to see how the DDCA reacts as the domestic season is about to get underway and the confusion around a key position will not help cricketing matters.Wait for selectors, coaches and support staff continuesEven months after receiving the applications for the various positions for the upcoming season, the state cricket body is yet to have the support staff in place for the 2025-26 season. Other states in the country are participating in preparatory tournaments like KSCA, Buchi Babu and holding preparatory camps but the DDCA continues to be in a huddle deciding the support staff.
