DDCA gives BCCI captains' conclave a miss

The Delhi & Districts Cricket Association (DDCA) today skipped the all-important captains' conclave organised by the BCCI due to lack of coordination between the officials.
The conclave is an annual affair, where the coaches and captains of all domestic sides come together to discuss the season that went by and also what improvements can be brought about in the coming season.
The DDCA was supposed to be represented by coach KP Bhaskar and captain Gautam Gambhir.
Gambhir was informed by the DDCA administrator Justice (Retd) Vikramjit Sen via email but his physical condition made it difficult for him to travel to Mumbai.

"Gautam has not been keeping well for past couple of days and hence excused himself from the conclave. He had received the mail around 2 pm yesterday," a source close to Gambhir told PTI.
In case of Bhaskar, he was first communicated that the meeting was in Delhi, only to be told later that it was being held in Mumbai.

With Gambhir and Bhaskar unable to make it, assistant coach Amit Bhandari and limited overs captain Rishabh Pant could have gone since another skipper Unmukt Chand is in England playing club cricket.
"DDCA shouldn't have gone unrepresented as we lost an opportunity to give our point of view on some pressing issues on domestic cricket. I don't know why Rishabh or Bhandari, who are very much here, were not instructed to attend the conclave. The date was known since the last two weeks," a senior DDCA official said.

The conclave saw the issue of neutral venues being discussed threadbare and it has been learnt that an overwhelming majority wants BCCI to revert back to 'home and away' system in Ranji Trophy.
The payment structure of domestic players, an issue raised by Harbhajan Singh, was also discussed at the meeting, joint secretary Amitabh Chaudhary confirmed reporters in Mumbai.