Jammu, 16th November 2025: The turmoil inside the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association has reached a point where the pretence of normalcy has collapsed. The resignation of a Sub Committee member is not an isolated reaction, it reveals a deeper, deliberate effort to sabotage democratic processes and tighten the grip of a select lobby over the association.
What should have been a simple and transparent election process has been twisted into a maze of unexplained delays, concealed decisions, and carefully timed manoeuvres. Legitimate members recognised under the JKCA constitution are being pushed aside while critical decisions on voting rights and club control are taken behind closed doors.
The sudden appearance of back dated orders, allegedly issued months earlier but never shared or recorded, is a glaring red flag. These documents conveniently alter voting nomenclature, reshape internal governance structures, and reorganise club managements at a time when elections are already overdue. This is not negligence; it is calculated manipulation, says a former senior cricketer who requested anonymity.
The Supreme Court’s directions were meant to clean up the system, yet the process is being diluted. Crucial decisions of the former Ombudsman, necessary for fairness, have been stalled or left in limbo. Those who question these tactics or refuse to endorse manipulation are stepping aside, signalling that dissent is no longer tolerated within the current setup.
A clear pattern has emerged. The intent is not only to delay the elections but to ensure that when they finally take place the people in control can use selective and opaque orders to restructure voting rights, sideline legitimate members, and keep the same lobby firmly in command.
Cricket in Jammu and Kashmir has already suffered from years of mismanagement, court interventions, and political interference. Instead of moving toward transparency and stability, the association is slipping back into opaque functioning, controlled committees, and decisions dictated by a handful of power brokers.
If this frenzy continues, JKCA will not just lose credibility. It will lose the trust of players, clubs, and the broader cricketing community. One of the region’s bright young talents recently left to play for another state, a sign of the frustration spreading among players. The association exists for the people of Jammu and Kashmir, not for a closed circle of beneficiaries, says a former senior office bearer.
Although the Supreme Court’s latest directive to complete elections within twelve weeks has revived hope, the real threat now is the quiet sabotage of the electoral process itself, warns a former cricketer. JKCA has long been dominated by a network that controlled selections and administrative structures. Elections were often mere formalities.
Stakeholders fear the same script is being prepared again through pressure on clubs, engineered disqualifications, controlled candidatures, and backdoor deals. One such deal reportedly involves a former cricketer who now heads an affiliated club and is said to have been offered the post of joint secretary in exchange for helping shape outcomes even before voting begins.
These concerns intensified after the resignation of Sunil Sethi from the JKCA Sub Committee. In his letter to BCCI President Mithun Manhas, Sethi states clearly that back dated orders never passed or communicated earlier have suddenly surfaced. They are now being used to alter club managements and voting rights, effectively reshaping the electoral landscape.
Sources point to specific clubs quietly granted eligibility through these retroactive directives. The beneficiaries are closely aligned with individuals currently wielding significant influence in the association. These clubs have ties to a video analyst touring with a senior team and being strategically positioned within the organisation. There is also a senior team manager with no cricketing merit but considerable influence, an informal legal adviser suspected of facilitating the very arrangements now distorting the process, and a long-time former office bearer whose protégé, with an average cricketing record and named in a Crime Branch FIR, now holds a key position.
These individuals are not neutral stakeholders. They strengthen the hold of the same lobby that has controlled JKCA for years.
Sunil Sethi’s resignation is more than a routine exit. It is a warning that forces determined to influence or distort the upcoming elections are already in motion, says a prominent figure in Jammu and Kashmir cricket who chooses to remain unnamed.
A controlled and engineered election will be disastrous. JKCA now stands at a decisive moment. Either the election becomes a turning point marked by transparency, fairness, and merit, or the old network forces its way back through technical manipulation and quiet interference. The Supreme Court may have opened the door for reform, but the real battle lies in ensuring the process is not hijacked before a single vote is cast.
The cricket fraternity must remain alert. The future of cricket in Jammu and Kashmir will be determined not on election day but in the weeks leading up to it. If the process is compromised, the damage will be long lasting and those responsible wills have harmed not just an institution but the future of cricket in the region.
