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.

... contd.