Is Gautam Gambhir the reason behind Virender Sehwag's resignation from DDCA?

Virender Sehwag, Manoj Prabhakar and Gautam Prabhakar(L-R)

Virender Sehwag, along with his colleagues Aakash Chopra and Rahul Sanghvi, resigned from Delhi & District Cricket Association (DDCA) cricket committee. The trio proposed the name of former India speedster Manoj Prabhakar for the role of Delhi's bowling coach, but the DDCA management dismissed their request. They were unhappy that their recommendation was quashed and thus, reportedly, resigned from their respective posts.

This decision of the DDCA management is believed to be influenced by Gautam Gambhir. The current Delhi skipper opposed the appointment of Prabhakar as Delhi's bowling coach. This is believed to be the first incident where two of Delhi's all-time most prolific batsmen - Sehwag and Gambhir have a conflict of interest.

Why Gambhir opposed Prabhakar's appointment?

Manoj Prabhakar is a former Indian cricketer who retired in 1996. He was a right-arm medium pace bowler and a lower-order batsman - sometimes even opened the innings for India. Prabhakar is remembered for his out-swingers and the use of slower balls. His bowling record - 96 Tests and 157 ODI wickets.

The reason why Gambhir opposed the appointment of Prabhakar as the bowling coach is that the latter allegedly took bribe to fix matches. In 1994, India were competitively placed at 195 for 5 in the 42nd over, chasing 257 against West Indies. Suddenly Prabhakar and Nayan Mongia applied brakes and scored just 16 runs in the remaining overs. Prabhakar gave an excuse that there were no instructions from the dressing room to speed things up.

On the other hand, his partner Mongia said that the fast bowler told him that they can not get the runs, so we decided to ensure that he gets his century.

Prabhakar participated in Tehelka's expose of match-fixing scandal but was himself charged of involvement and subsequently banned by the BCCI from playing cricket.

Gambhir has always preferred that anyone with a stained past should be kept away from the team dressing room. He also protested in the 2007-08 season when Prabhakar was appointed as bowling coach and similarly in 2016 against the appointment of Ajay Jadeja as coach. A source close to Gambhir told Times of India that he never allowed ‘any alleged match-fixers’ in the dressing room of which he is a part.

After the trio resigned on Monday, Gambhir tweeted, “It’s being said my protest against Manoj Prabhakar’s appointment as Delhi bowling coach has led to DDCA Cricket Committee’s resignation. Yes, I’ve always adopted zero tolerance when it comes to cricketers alleged of corruption but the real reason for their resignation as told to me by Powers that be was that post-adoption of Lodha reforms on September 20th, (the) Cricket Committee will be disbanded.”

Gambhir's Tweet:

It’s being said my protest against Manoj Prabhakar’s appointment as Delhi bowling coach has led to DDCA Cricket Committee’s resignation. Yes, I’ve always adopted zero tolerance when it comes to cricketers alleged of corruption but...(part 1)

— Gautam Gambhir (@GautamGambhir) September 17, 2018

(Part 2)...but the real reason for their resignation as told to me by Powers that be was that post adoption of Lodha reforms on September 20th Cricket Committee will be disbanded. Just thought of clarifying...

— Gautam Gambhir (@GautamGambhir) September 17, 2018

Sehwag and the other two have claimed that they are resigning “keeping the best interest of cricket in mind”.