Chetan Desai, Team India's manager for the recent series in South Africa, who invited the wrath of Rahul Dravid for blaming him squarely for his side's defeat in the crucial third and final Test in Cape Town in his tour report, has probably a knack of creating controversies and remaining in the news for all the wrong reasons.
His administrative track record is nothing to be proud of, and you cannot help but agree with Dravid's outburst that Desai has no place in the history of cricket and hence he does not deserve even scant respect.
As Dravid has rightly said, Desai has not played a single first-class match. But not only is he the secretary of Goa Cricket Association but is also a member of the BCCI's finance committee.
A few years ago Desai had "insulted" former India opener Dilip Sardesai, of all people, during a One-Day International in Goa. Though he played for and lives in Mumbai, Sardesai is actually a Goan.
According to Sardesai's admission, he asked Desai for "two complimentary tickets" for the big match.
As per the BCCI rule, a former Test cricketer is entitled for two complimentary tickets for an international match at home. But Desai told Sardesai that he could not give him those tickets simply because he said he was not aware of any such BCCI rule.
Even when Sardesai pointed out and explained the rule to him, Desai was in no mood to listen to him.
"At least the gentleman should have had the courtesy to be respectful to me because the request was coming from a Goan ex-Test cricketer," said Sardesai.
