Appointment of trainer at the NCA come under scanner

A trainer at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru Sohum Desai’s appointment came under notice after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) CEO, Rahul Johri reported the whole matter to the Committee of Administrators (CoA). As per a media report, Johri had written to the CoA about the appointment of the trainer was based on a fake report. The CEO also revealed that Desai never attended any of BCCI’s workshops on sports science and neither sat for the examination conducted after the workshop.

Desai’s appointment as the trainer at NCA was done only on the basis of the information provided by BCCI’s General Manager (Cricket Operation) MV Sridhar. However, the report actually was completely false as it stated that he came second in the same examination for which he didn’t even appear. The CEO also stated that the officials will investigate the matter further.

I have reported the matter

Rahul Johri revealed that Desai had not attended the SSM Trainers workshop and neither had appeared for the exam. “I have reported the matter to the CoA and the office-bearers, will await their decision on the issue,” said Johri, as quoted by Cricbuzz.

“Sohum Desai did not attend the SSM Trainers Workshop and neither did he appear for the exam. I brought this issue up with Dr. Sridhar and he told me that even he was not aware that Sohum had not appeared for the test but was relying on Basu’s recommendation,” he wrote in his letter to COA.

I don’t think there is any conflict

However, BCCI’s GM MV Sridhar feels that there is no conflict of interest in the present situation. Earlier a media report also stated that the BCCI officials had a discussion with Sridhar regarding the whole process of Desai’s appointment as a trainer at the NCA, as Sridhar has been primarily associated with Shankar Basu’s fitness centre.

“The boy came second in the exam and that’s why he got the job. I don’t think there is any conflict of interest,” said Sridhar.