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Controversy mounts as Azhar pulls out of Duleep Trophy

What, precisely, is going on in Indian cricket?

The question begs the asking, in light of events connected with the Duleep Trophy fixture between South Zone and North Zone, which begins in Agartala today.

As the BCCI fixtures had it, the game was to have been played at the Eden Gardens, with Agartala being allotted the final.

At the last minute, on the pretext that there is likely to be a general strike in Agartala on the 9th of this month, the venues were interchanged, and the South versus North fixture was shifted to the Maharaja Bir Bikram Singh Stadium in Agartala.

Behind the scenes, though, the buzz in BCCI corridors was that the board did not fancy the prospect of Azharuddin, at what is easily his favourite cricketing venue, possibly making a ton of runs. In their estimation, this would only add fuel to the growing media and public fire, as demands for his reinstatement have been mounting of late.

To circumvent this, say board sources, it was decided to shift the venue to Agartala.

Specious? Perhaps. However, as the buzz mounted and controversy swirled around the abrupt change of venue, Azhar himself added an edge to the confusion by pulling out of the South Zone team, of which he was named captain, at the last minute.

He has not assigned any reason, nor is he available for comment.

Whatever the reason, Azhar's pullout has further damaged the prospects of South, which contributes more than half the members of the squad now doing duty in Australia. Robin Singh has taken over the captaincy, and will lead his zone against a full-strength North led by Vikram Rathore. North Zone, interestingly, will only miss the services of Harbajan Singh, part of the Indian squad in Australia. But then, North has Nikhil Chopra by way of makeweight for Harbajan.