Delhi Ranji opener Gautam Gambhir weighed in on the on-going political tussle within the Delhi & District Cricket Association (DDCA) by saying the cricketing body blossomed under the former DDCA president and current Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. “A lot of good things have happened in DDCA when Mr Jaitley was president,” said the once India opener in defense of the under scrutiny ex DDCA president.
Gambhir was present at the Civil Services Ground, Chanakyapuri to motivate blind cricketers during the 22nd National Tournament.
“All these people who are criticising him now; left, right and center, they too were part of DDCA, they were given top posts and they did nothing for Delhi. They should not have taken such positions in DDCA if that was the case,” said the hero of the 2011 World Cup Final.
On being asked about his and Virender Sehwag’s protest against DDCA in 2009, he said: “We never protested against Jaitley Ji. He was both mine and Sehwag’s go to guy whenever we needed anything,” clarified currently out-of-favour Indian opener.
“Every good thing that happened with Delhi cricket was when Jaitley Ji was the president. Take the case of the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium itself. See how it was and how he made it into a world class stadium,” continued Gambhir.
On being asked if the Delhi captain, like his once partner in crime - Sehwag, is planning to leave Delhi, he replied “I never thought of leaving Delhi. Delhi has given me opportunity to showcase my talent at the world level.”