VISAKHAPATNAM: It’s not often that a former India cricketer doesn’t get invited to an international match hosted by his own state association in his own city. It appears even stranger, considering that the association is Andhra, which doesn’t have many international cricketers.
But that’s the case with Y Venugopal Rao. The former batsman, who grew up in Vizag and represented Andhra with distinction before playing for other states, told this newspaper that the Andhra Cricket Association (ACA) doesn’t offer him complimentary tickets for international games. For Sunday’s India-Australia T20I, he has bought a ticket for himself.
ACA secretary CH Arun Kumar refused to comment, saying he was “busy with preparations for the match.” Sources in ACA indicated that relationship between the player and parent body is cold, saying that Rao had “little to no concern” for the state association.
The 36-year-old said on Saturday he is hurt by the way the ACA has treated him over the years. “Sometimes I feel what was the use of representing the country when they do not even respect me in my state. Many a time, Ranji players come and ask me for tickets. It gets embarrassing since I myself don’t get one. The ACA has never invited me to any match. I have been felicitated by them in the past, but they never bothered to give me tickets,” he said.
After making a name for himself representing Andhra, Rao also played for Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Gujarat before returning home in the 2017-18 season. He has not officially retired, but has lost his place in the stateside.
Sources close to the administration said, “He left to play for other states. That is not wrong. Players have the right to choose a path. But we rarely see him active in his home state. There is no bad blood between the administration and him. It is just that the relationship has suffered due to non-contact.”
It can be noted that Rao is one of only two Andhra players to have played for the country. Current chairman of selectors MSK Prasad was the first. Although Hanuma Vihari plays for Andhra, he learnt his cricket in Hyderabad and played for them before shifting. “Only two players from Andhra have represented the country and is this how I should be treated? If the same was done to players such as Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly, how would they have reacted?” asked the right-hander, who has also represented Deccan Chargers and Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL.