DDCA to review DPL rule after New Delhi Tigers field Dev Chaudhary — published Aug 26, 2026

The Delhi & Districts Cricket Association (DDCA) said it will review the rule that let New Delhi Tigers include Dev Chaudhary in their Delhi Premier League (DPL) squad after the player's appearance sparked criticism, the association said on August 26, 2026. The New Delhi Tigers are bottom of the eight-team table with one win from 10 matches.

Dev Chaudhary opened in two DPL games, scoring 0 off 2 balls against South Delhi Superstarz and 16 off 24 balls against West Delhi Lions. His innings versus West Delhi Lions — noted for an unconventional batting stance and a failure to play a single powerful shot — and five dot balls to a spinner in the Powerplay prompted questions from players, coaches and officials about how he reached the playing eleven.

This season's DPL 'Tournament Rules' allowed each of the eight franchises to select three players outside the auction provided they had played a minimum of five matches in the DDCA League. Several members of the DDCA Apex Council opposed that provision, arguing it risked allowing undeserving players into squads; the council members named in reports as protesting the rule were lawyer Shyam Sharma, Manjeet Singh, Harish Singla and Shikha Kumar.

Apex Council member Shyam Sharma told PTI: "It has been an absolute shame. I was the first one who had raised my voice about this rule. They made a criterion that five DDCA League games would be enough to qualify for a place in DPL without auction. "Now I had asked on the forum, what if that guy hasn't performed and picked. Dev Chaudhary has been exposed but there are many players like this who have come into the teams on recommendations," Sharma alleged, and he said he had appealed again to the Apex Council that this contentious rule "should be revisited and necessary course correction be done.

Dev Chaudhary's wider cricketing record is described as unknown apart from being summoned to Delhi U-19 trials with hundreds of others. He played DDCA League matches for Sporting Club, the same club that produced pace bowler Prince Yadav, and a club source confirmed he had appeared in a few league games; Sporting Club official Amit Vashistha was not available for comment.

Public reaction included a post by Vipin Tiwari on August 25, 2026 that asked: "Why the hell would a franchise pay 1 lakh for Dev Chaudhary? What exactly are they seeing here? There are talented young cricketers grinding every single day, waiting for one chance, while players like this are getting picked and taking up those spots." A club source added: "He was recommended by former India U19 and Delhi pacer Pradeep Sangwan. He played two games and after that one of our senior club official called his father and told him that 'Please don't send your son as he isn't good enough'." The source said the father did not ask questions, Dev never returned to the club, and "When we saw him playing DPL, we were stunned. How did someone like Rajkumar Sharma allow this to happen," the club source questioned.

The New Delhi Tigers' coaching staff is listed as Rajkumar Sharma, a Dronacharya Awardee and Virat Kohli's childhood coach, with Bantoo Singh as assistant coach. PTI reported that Rajkumar Sharma did not respond to multiple WhatsApp messages or calls from reporters, and that repeated calls and messages to team owner Ajay Kumar went unanswered.

When contacted, DDCA secretary Ashok Sharma said: "The Rule will be reviewed once the tournament is over." The review, he indicated, will take place after the current DPL season concludes.