Sarthak Ranjan, son of controversial Bihar politician Pappu Yadav, was named in Delhi’s T20 side without having played a single match this season.
Sarthak was also a controversial pick for Delhi during the Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament last year as well, where he had scored 5, 3 and 2, aggregating 10 runs in three games.
At the start of this season, Sarthak withdrew himself after being named in the Ranji Trophy probables list. Suddenly, towards the end of the Ranji season, his mother Ranjeet Ranjan wrote an e-mail to DDCA administrator Justice (Retd) Vikramajit Sen that her son was suffering from depression and but was now fit to play.
Suddenly, without playing a single match, Sarthak was put into the standby list of the Delhi Under-23 team playing the CK Nayudu Trophy by the three-member selection committee, comprising Atul Wassan, Hari Gidwani and Robin Singh Junior. Incidentally, they have kept Under-23 top-scorer Hiten Dalal in the reserves.
While this move, which drew flak and jokes on social media, is questionable, it is by no means the first time that the son of an influential person has fulfilled their cricket dreams with a little help from their name. It will also, unfortunately, be by no means the last time this will happen.
Here’s a look at the children of influential people who briefly made it to the field, but not on the back of only performance:
Tejasvi Yadav
The son of former Railway minister and RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav has not only played a Ranji Trophy match, he has also been a part of the Delhi Daredevils squad in the Indian Premier League for four years – without making it to the Playing XI even once.
He has played all of one Ranji Trophy game for Jharkhand against Vidarbha in the Plate Division in 2009, along with two List A matches and four T20s in 2009-10. With a grand total of 37 runs across seven games, he didn’t really set the stage on fire.
As a 13-year-old, he made his debut in the Delhi Under-15 team led by none other than Virat Kohli. However, according to an Indian Express article back in 2015, “most regulars on the Delhi circuit insist that his graduation to the under-17 and then the under-19 Delhi team had little to do with his family name.”
The 28-year-old hasn’t played much cricket since, but he did become the youngest deputy Chief Minister of Bihar in 2015.
Anurag Thakur
Before he was a big player in the BCCI, Anurag Thakur, son of Prem Kumar Dhumal, the former Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh and a three-time BJP Member of Parliament himself, was the chief of the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association
The former BCCI President has played a grand total of one match domestic cricket, as captain against Jammu & Kashmir in November 2000 with two wickets to his name. And that debut match came after he became a cricket administrator in charge of the HPCA. Basically, he selected himself to play in the Ranji Trophy just so he could get the requisite tag of a First-Class cricketer.
Why was the tag required? Because only first-class players could be national selectors. With his first and last match, Thakur got himself on the BCCI national junior selection committee. He climbed up the ranks to then become the BCCI Secretary and President as well, before being removed from the post by the Supreme Court.
Cases within India’s cricket structure
Anirudha Srikkanth
The son of Krishnamachari Srikkanth has been around the domestic circuit for a while and has even played for Chennai Super Kings in the IPL. However, he never really showed the promise that he can make it at the top level. Yet, back in 2011, he was named in the 15-member India ‘A’ team for the Emerging Players Tournament in Australia after an ordinary domestic season. He was then picked ahead of players like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli (would you believe it?).
This was at a time his father was the chief selector and the one who reportedly proposed his name in the first place. While the player said he was hurt by the claims of nepotism, it didn’t realty he;p him as his international cricket aspirations were faded by his own lack of performance.
Jaydev Shah
Jaydev Shah, son of BCCI and Saurashtra Cricket Association secretary Niranjan Shah, is a veteran on the Ranji Trophy circuit, even breaking the record for most matches as captain.
However, he has also been part of every IPL season since it began in 2008 representing four different franchises – Rajasthan Royals, Mumbai Indians and Deccan Chargers, Gujarat Lions – but hasn’t played a single match in the nine years so far. He also was selected for a tri-series involving Australia ‘A’ and New Zealand ‘A’ in 2008.
However, in 2017, he denied that his father had any role to play in his IPL selection. “When I haven’t got a chance to prove on the ground, how will I justify it (selection in IPL). When my father gave me the opportunity to lead the Saurashtra Ranji Trophy team, I had to prove myself. So, when I get a chance (in the IPL), I will prove it,” Jaydev told Hindustan Times.