DPLT20's success helped our players get IPL contracts: Rohan Jaitley

NEW DELHI: A day after securing a resounding win in the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) elections, president Rohan Jaitley on Tuesday claimed that his new regime will look into the trend of Delhi selectors sending inflated squads for away matches across age groups.
Jaitley, since his last term as the president, has been striving to streamline the selection process.
“I spoke to the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) after I came to know that so many players have been travelling. I can assure you that the matter is being looked into,” Jaitley said while addressing the media.
One of Jaitley’s pet projects is the high performance centre. The idea was initiated this year but could not take off due to a permanent venue for the project. The idea is to have a registered pool of players being monitored around the year so that discrepancies in selections are wiped out.
“We are hoping to have a High-Performance Centre (HPC) where we will have talented players identified by our talent scouts and provided with state of the art training.”
The focus is on investing most of the revenue generated through the Delhi Premier League T20 (DPLT20) in the game’s growth. For Jaitley, organising the inaugural tournament in Augus-September this year has been his most satisfying endeavour in the last four years.
“DPLT20 was organised in a very short span of time. The revenue it generated aside, it has propelled a few young cricketers into the IPL. Priyansh Arya going for Rs 3.80 crore is a classic example. Prince Chaudhary and Vansh Bedi too got deals. Himmat Singh too made a comeback in IPL. Now, the effort is to reinvest the money in development of cricket,” Jaitley told TOI.
Building a new stadium in the city is an idea that has come up and DDCA is in touch with the Lieutenant Governor (LG) of Delhi to secure land.
“We focus on boosting our infrastructure and on the grassroots level. School-level cricket is one area we’re looking to explore to make sure we do good for the city,” Jaitley said.
In the lead up to the elections, his competitor, former India allrounder Kirti Azad, had indicated at mishandling of funds in the association.
“If there was a problem or discrepancy, then why weren’t the questions raised in the last three years? It can’t be done in a 30-day build-up to an election; you can’t raise something that didn’t exist. One of the issues he raised was new floodlights. But floodlights were installed in 2021 before the last elections,” Jaitley said.
Jaitley, however, claimed he is open to ideas from the 65-year-old Azad.
“I am being clear that he (Kirti Azad) has been a former cricketer, he has done good for the state and the country. As an association, suggestions are always welcome on what should be done and how it should be done better with time,” he said.