Former Indian cricketer and Chief Advisor to Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) Harbhajan Singh on Friday alleged “illegal activities” in the Association, and apprised all the stakeholders about the same.
Harbhajan, also the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) Rajya Sabha MP, in his letter addressed to all stakeholders, said: “For the last week or ten days, I have been receiving numerous complaints from cricket lovers in Punjab and several stakeholders that the PCA under the present President is resorting to a lot of illegal activities which is against transparency and the spirit of cricket administration. I learnt that yesterday, complaints in this regard have been lodged with the Ombudsman.”
The legendary spinner known for his “doosra”, Harbhajan has requested to stop the illegal activities immediately to restore PCA’s integrity. “These are against the BCCI Constitution, guidelines of the PCA, and the violation of transparency and ethical norms in the administration of sports bodies. To hide their illegal activities, they are not organizing formal meetings of the PCA and are taking all the decisions suo motu which serve their selfish motives,” he further wrote in the letter.
Having played 103 Tests, 236 ODIs and 28 T20Is for India, the former off-spinner has taken 417 wickets in Tests, 269 wickets in ODIs, and 25 wickets in T20Is. He was also the member of 2007 T20 World Cup-winning team and also played an integral role in the 2011 50-over World Cup.
Popularly known as Bhajji and Turbanator, Harbhajan had announced his retirement from international cricket in 2020. He was honoured, along with Yuvraj Singh, by naming stands after them in Mohali during the first T20I against Australia as both the cricketers played junior cricket for Punjab before making it to the India U-19 and then into the senior national team.