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Days before Rohan Jaitley took over as its president, Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) had only Rs 85 lakh in its accounts. It had an outstanding of Rs 14 crore to be given to different vendors and another Rs 8 crore pending amount to coaches and support staff between 2011 and 2019. Today, the same association has a 100-crore fixed deposit and has spent around Rs 70 crore to renovate the stadium for the 2023 World Cup at home. The association under the aegis of Jaitley, spends over 95 percent of its finances on the game.
This was the same DDCA which had a deep financial crunch during the 2016-17 phase and a lack of leadership haunted the association. With Justice (retired) Mukul Mudgal making giant steps to bring in accountability and credibility, Rohan streamlined the entire process quite beautifully to bring back DDCA on its feet. With DDCA elections approaching next month, Rohan’s leadership is spoken highly in different quarters of DDCA.
Years of mismanagement had left DDCA in a state of disarray, with operational inefficiencies and a lack of accountability that they needed a boss like Rohan to come and fix things, which he did. Under Jaitley’s leadership, the association underwent a remarkable transformation, including financial stabilization and prioritizing cricket-centric spending. The turnaround underscores his effective governance and dedication to addressing long-standing issues while focusing on the development of cricket in Delhi.
The association spent huge money on infrastructure (floodlights, seats and other renovations). They started players’ insurance and pensions for former support staff and even cleared dues of those people which were written as bad debts in the accounts books. The icing on the cake happened when DDCA made a gross revenue of over Rs 65 crore when some of the state leagues couldn’t even make over Rs 10 crore from their annual T20 league.
But Delhi stood tall and delivered. From a near-collapse to becoming a financially robust, cricket-focused organisation , DDCA under Jaitley stands tall as a model for other associations, with its infrastructure, innovative initiatives, and profitability setting new benchmarks for Indian cricket administration.
Even cricket wise, Delhi is improving. The resurgence of Delhi cricket is indeed a testament to the strong cricketing ecosystem fostered by the region. With a blend of promising talent and impactful performances, Delhi continues to contribute significantly to Indian cricket’s success story. Players like Mayank Yadav, Harshit Rana, Anuj Rawat, Hrithik Shokeen, Ayush Badon, Sanat Sangwan and Mayank Rawat are showing enough promise to take Delhi cricket forward.
Not to forget that Delhi has always been a cricketing powerhouse, producing legends like Virat Kohli, Virender Sehwag, and Gautam Gambhir. The emergence of this new crop of players signals a revival of that legacy. With a robust system in place under visionary leadership and investments in grassroots programs by Jaitley, Delhi cricket is well-poised to produce world-class players who can shine on the global stage.
