Rebel players justify joining ICL

Hyderabad, Aug 22 (UNI) Andhra Pradesh rebel cricketers today justified their joining the Indian Cricket League (ICL) by saying that they were dejected with the attitude of Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) officials.

Speaking to mediapersons for the first time here, seven of the eight players from the state who joined the ICL - Kaushik Reddy, Vinay Kumar, A T Rayudu, Alfred Aslam, Indrasekhar Reddy, Ibrahim Khaleel and Sashanth Nag- said the affairs of the HCA was virtually controlled by ''one family'', which led to favouritism in the selection and ruined many good talents.

When asked about specific instances, they said HCA Secretary Shivlal Yadav was arrogant and players were forced to listen and play according to his whims and fancies.

They alleged that an intoxicated HCA coach Rajesh Yadav, the brother of the Secretary, used to abuse them during tours.

On behalf of the ICL players, Kaushik Reddy, former Hyderabad medium pacer, read out the statement, justifying their joining the ICL.

The players said they joined ICL not just for money but for better exposure as they would be rubbing shoulders with Brian Lara of West Indies, Inzamamul Haq of Pakistan and Lance Klusener of South Africa, during the Twenty20 cricket tournament scheduled to be held in October.

They said they were approached by Bharat Reddy, the former Indian wicketkeeper and ICL representative of the South to join the rebel league. After consulting each other, they took the final decision in this regard.

Some of the players spoke to their employers whose clubs were affiliated to the HCA in its league and had got their green signal to go ahead.

Another player Anirudh Singh, a middle-order batsman who was away in England playing for minor counties, was expected to reach here in the first week of next month.

UNI