Angry Gambhir blasts CAB, asks why Azharuddin?

The outspoken Gautam Gambhir has lashed out at the Cricket Association of Bengal for inviting former skipper Mohammed Azharuddin for the first T20 international against the West Indies.

Gambhir took to twitter to air his views.

“India may have won today at Eden but I am sorry @bcci, CoA & CAB lost. Looks like the No Tolerance Policy against Corrupt takes a leave on Sundays! I know he was allowed to contest HCA polls but then this is shocking. The bell is ringing, hope the powers that be are listening,” Gambhir tweeted.

Repeated calls to CAB president Sourav Ganguly and joint secretary Abhishek Dalmia went unanswered.

Azharuddin was banned for life by the BCCI for his alleged involvement in the match-fixing scandal that rocked the cricket world in 2000. However, in 2012, the former captain’s ban was overturned by the Andhra High Court.

While the BCCI has never formally issued any statement on the Azharuddin issue for the past few years, he has been a regular feature in board’s events. His financial dues, though, are yet to be cleared.

Earlier this year, Gambhir wasn’t happy after Manoj Prabhakar was shortlisted for the Delhi coach’s job.

It was learnt that Virender Sehwag, one of the members of the Delhi and Districts Cricket Association’s (DDCA) Cricket Advisory Committee, didn’t like some of the questions that Gambhir had posed to Prabhakar.

Two years ago, the DDCA was forced to replace Ajay Jadeja with Vijay Dahiya after Gambhir made it clear that he won’t play if the former remained the coach.

Gambhir steps down

Gambhir, meanwhile, was replaced by Nitish Rana as Delhi’s Ranji captain after he decided to make way for someone younger at the top position.

“Time to pass the captaincy baton to youngsters, hence have requested the DDCA selectors not to consider me for that role. I will be in the background helping the new leader to win games,” Gambhir tweeted.

“Gautam has intimated the state team’s chief selector Amit Bhandari that he would like to opt out of captaincy. He suggested that someone younger be groomed for the job. Nitish Rana will lead the side and Dhruv Shorey will be his deputy,” said DDCA president Rajat Sharma.

The 24-year-old Rana is a middle-order batsman, who has an average of 46.29 in 24 first-class appearances so far. The 26-year-old Shorey has 21 first-class matches to his credit and is a top-order batsman.