JAIPUR: Selection trials have always in the past attracted controversy and Tuesday was no different. During the Under-19 selection trials for the Vinoo Mankad Trophy by the Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA), around 150 people, aspiring cricketers and their parents, protested for nearly two hours for being denied participation in the trials.
It was due to confusion that cropped up as a result of RCA in its official notification terming it as an 'open trial' in the opening lines and only later mentioning that 'those players whose names have been sent by their respective district cricket association (DCA) will be considered for the trials'.
"This is an open trial and that is why we are here, but me and several others have been denied entry. This is really discouraging. Also, I wish to know what was the process followed by the district association to select the names?" said an 18-year-old from Jaipur on condition of anonymity.
Putting forward RCA's stand on the confusion resulting from the error in the media release and the chaotic scenes outside the RCA academy, association secretary Mahendra Sharma said, "That might be the case, but after that we had sent a letter to DCAs asking them to give the names of players for the trials. On the basis of those names we have received, we conducted the trials. What happened was various private academies in Jaipur had sent players, though the names of the players were supposed to be sent by the Jaipur District Cricket Association (JDCA). If we had not put in place the process of DCAs sending a list of players, then one can easily expect some 5,000 players coming for the trials. And checking the authenticity of their documents becomes a bigger problem," said the RCA secretary.
The secretary added that the protesting players from other districts will be allowed to participate on Wednesday, the last day of the trials. "Players from districts other than Jaipur who were protesting were a handful in number, so we have told them to come and participate on Wednesday," he added.
