Vaibhav Gehlot resigns as Rajasthan Cricket Association chief

Vaibhav Gehlot.

Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA) chief Vaibhav Gehlot resigned on Monday, citing a no-confidence motion against him even as he maintained no office-bearer or official contacted or discussed this with him.

This comes after the Rajasthan Sports Council (RSC) locked the RCA premises on February 23. On February 19, the RSC issued a notice to RCA saying its agreement related to the Rajasthan Cricket Academy and the SMS Stadium expired on February 21 and sought the return of their control. The RCA could no longer use the cricket ground or other blocks where its offices were located.

Gehlot, whose father Ashok Gehlot was the Rajasthan chief minister until December, said the action was taken against RCA with vengeance after the government changed. He maintained no RCA office-bearer expressed any disagreement on an issue else he would have resigned earlier. “For me, this post is not important, but the cricket in Rajasthan and the future of players is important. I will never let this be harmed. I will always be available in the future for the interest of Rajasthan cricket, cricketers, and cricket lovers,” said Gehlot

He said he made efforts to spread cricket beyond Jaipur and got the stadium in Jodhpur renovated. He said work was started for a world-class stadium in Udaipur.

Gehlot said since RCA does not have its stadium, it signed an agreement with the state government to use the SMS stadium, and international matches were played there. He said construction of a cricket stadium was started on the Jaipur-Delhi highway in partnership with the Vedanta Group.

Gehlot said the RSC acted in haste and locked the RCA premises. “This action has indicated that the positive atmosphere we have created for cricket is getting damaged. It is intolerable for me that IPL matches in the state should be at risk or cricket should suffer. To safeguard the game and the players from this situation, I am tendering my resignation.”

Gehlot said cricket was neglected when the Bharatiya Janata Party was in power in Rajasthan from 2013 to 2018. He added RCA was banned due to which no cricket matches could take place in Rajasthan. Gehlot said after becoming RCA president in 2019, he promoted cricket and connected youngsters to this game.

RSC secretary Sohan Ram Choudhary said RCA had not paid dues amounting to ₹3 crore for years. “Many notices were sent but they did not respond.”

Read more news like this on HindustanTimes.com