But the association’s lack of concern, the manner in which things have transpired in the Raman Lamba dressing room this season and the way in which some seniors in the team have faced humiliation — for example the way questions were raised about the utility in the side of Vijay Dahiya, Amit Bhandari and Rahul Sanghvi — many in the dressing room have more or less made up their mind to pack their bags. It was their home for close to a decade.

According to sources close to the team, the impending exodus from the Delhi team will leave the side starved of ‘star’ value. Though star Indian opener and Delhi skipper Virender Sehwag wasn’t available for comment, there are strong hints that the Haryana Cricket Association has approached him and that the offer is still open.

Gautam Gambhir, meanwhile, admits he “had offers from four states” at the start of the season but he didn’t take them up because it was his dream to make Delhi win the Ranji Trophy. “It’s a team that has given so much to me, and I really thought that with such a good mix of seniors and juniors, we could do it this season. But the way things went about, we messed it up big time. And yes, now that I see my dream in tatters, I wouldn’t rule out a rethink at the start of next season,” he says candidly.

Ashish Nehra admits he had an offer that he turned down. “Yes, I had an offer to play as a pro this season for another state but I turned it down. But the way things have shaped up, I wouldn’t mind now considering another offer,” he says.

Ditto for Mitthun Manhas. The most recent ‘former skipper’ in the Delhi dressing room says, “I’m sad and hurt by the manner in which the sack came. But I am going to give my best under Shikhar (Dhawan) and also ensure that he gets the best support from all seniors in the side.” He adds, “from a future perspective, I wouldn’t rule out contemplating if any offer as a pro comes through at this point of time.”

Sample three most recent cases:

• Gambhir, who has scored over 7,000 runs for Delhi refused captaincy of the team for the one-dayers. But none, including the president, secretary, selectors or the coach have called him in the last 48 hours to know the reason behind his decision or to just have a chat. On the contrary, views have been expressed by the same set through television, justifying Gambhir’s dwindling World Cup chances.

• Mitthun Manhas has scored in excess of 7,000 runs for Delhi and led North Zone to Duleep and Deodhar Trophy victories last season. His three tons last season for Delhi failed to earn him a ticket in to the India A team tour to Australia while Reetinder Sodhi made it ahead of him — again because of lack of support from his own association. He has led a total of 23 matches for Delhi, where he has an impressive win-loss record of 18:5 (including conceding first innings lead). In ODIs he led in 11 matches, where Delhi has won 9. But in the overall result, he gets a sack from selectors, and not even an opportunity to resign himself honourably, despite Delhi finishing third in the group.

• Last but not the least is Ashish Nehra. Trying for a comeback after injury and playing first four matches at home, Delhi had a big chance of utilising him. Instead, he gets four brown and placid wickets at home, a bad remark on his attitude and not a single person in DDCA voicing displeasure when the left-arm paceman was left out of the World Cup probables.

According to a senior player requesting anonymity, “It’s not that the association doesn’t know what is happening. If we leave the team and go, then it becomes easy for them to play their own wards. Look at the way they humiliated Rahul Sanghvi, Amit Bhandari and how they treated Chetanya Nanda, our top wicket-taker last season. It’s just that they are not bothered.”

Chetan Chauhan, the coach of the Delhi team and the DDCA vice-president says, “DDCA has always supported its players. We feel proud when players from Delhi get selected. We have a limited scope as far as supporting the players through the board. The selectors are independent, but we are supporting them through television commentary and also speaking to them in favour of them. In this age of professionalism, everybody is entitled to look at an offer, say like Ajay Jadeja who went to Rajasthan, but I would like to call the players for a discussion along with me, the president, other vice-presidents and the secretary to talk about it.”