Former BCCI chief selector Chetan Sharma shared a cryptic post on his Twitter handle on Thursday, May 18. He wrote that life has been tough, adding that he sees no hope from near and dear ones.
A former India pacer, Sharma found himself in the eye of a storm after a news channel conducted a sting operation on him. In the sting video, he was heard making some shocking claims about India’s top cricketers and also the manner in which the game is run in the country.
In February this year, a few days after video clips of the sting operation went viral, Sharma resigned from his post as BCCI’s chairman of the senior men’s selection committee. He has stayed away from the media glare since the controversy.
On Thursday, Sharma took to his Twitter handle and shared his pain. He wrote:
“Life has been very tough so far. No hope from your near & dear. Mata Rani bless me…..”
Sharma, 57, was a reasonably talented bowling all-rounder. He represented India in 23 Tests and 65 ODIs, claiming 61 and 67 wickets, respectively. With the bat, he scored one half-century in Test matches and also notched up a hundred in his ODI career.
Chetan Sharma’s explosive claim on Virat Kohli-Sourav Ganguly tussle
One of the biggest controversies to emerge from the sting operation on Chetan Sharma pertained to his claims regarding the tussle between former India captain Virat Kohli and former BCCI chief Sourav Ganguly, which he termed as an ego clash. The former chief selector hit out at Kohli, claiming the ace batter thought he was “bigger than the Board”.
Referring to Kohli being sacked as captain by Ganguly, he was heard saying in the sting operation video:
“When the player becomes popular, he considers himself to be bigger than the Board and thinks that nobody can touch him. He feels that cricket in India would stop without him. But has that ever happened?
“Some of our biggest cricketing stars came and went but cricket remained the same. So, he tried to hit back at the president at that time. It was a damaging controversy. It was a classic case of a player going against the BCCI. The president represents the BCCI, isn’t it?.”
In the same sting video, the former India cricketer also alleged that some players took injections to speed up their return to competitive cricket despite being only 80 to 85 percent fit.