Hyderabad: Piqued by the abrupt end to her father’s coaching stint in Hyderabad, former Test cricketer M. V. Narasimha ‘Bobby’ Rao’s daughter Kamini has written to external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj seeking her intervention in resolving the issue involving the Hyderabad’s captain when the team last won Ranji Trophy in 1986-87.
Last month, a day after the new committee took over the Hyderabad Cricket Association, Bobby’s services along with those of the entire coaching and support staff were dispensed with. He was Director of Hyderabad Cricket Academy of Excellence (HCAE) on a two-year contract that was to expire in July this year.
Bobby, now 62, had returned to Hyderabad — a city he had left 27 years ago for Strabane in Northern Ireland — in July 2015 to take up HCA’s assignment. “My father left my mum, sister, brother and myself for a job he has always dreamt of doing and also to live and work again in his beloved Hyderabad. I am proud to say during his association with the HCA, Hyderabad moved from 28th to 8th place on the Ranji Trophy table,” Kamini, a Development Officer for an Ethnic Minority group in Northern Ireland, wrote in her letter to Ms Swaraj.
“However, his journey with the Association is coming to a negative end as he has not been paid for five months. This is a serious matter as my father gave up his job here in Northern Ireland and made a commitment to HCA. My father is the only Indian Test player to receive an MBE (Member of British Empire) from the Queen of England for his contribution to cricket and community work in Northern Ireland... the way he is being treated is very disrespectful,” Kamini states.
Incidentally, Bobby lost his MBE medallion at a function organised by Aurora College at Lalitha Kala Thoranam in Hyderabad this year.
