New Delhi, Aug. 19: With the threat of a player revolt hanging over Delhi cricket, the Ranji team began a conditioning camp at the Ferozeshah Kotla here on Wednesday. Seven cricketers were missing from the opening day of the camp for various reasons.

While skipper Virender Sehwag and Ishant Sharma were in Kochi shooting for an advertising campaign, Chetanya Nanda and S. Sehrawat were at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore. Also missing was all-rounder Rajat Bhatia — playing club cricket in England — with opener Gautam Gambhir and Mithun Manhas supposed to join the camp on Thursday.

Delhi and Districts Cricket Association vice-president Chetan Chauhan denied that there was a revolt brewing with so many player missing the camp on the opening day.

"All the players selected for the camp are here while those that are not there have informed us about the reasons for their absence. Gambhir will be joining the camp tomorrow, while others will be there in due course," Chauhan said.

The DDCA on its part is trying their best to limit the damage caused by Sehwag’s allegations. "Our president (Arun Jaitley) has instructed us to let matters ‘cool down’. We have been instructed keep quiet until Sehwag meets the president next week," a DDCA official said.

All the players went through their paces including Ashish Nehra, who had come out in support of Sehwag earlier. The calm on day one of the camp, however, fails to hide the trouble brewing inside the walls of DDCA. Adding to the stew is the fact that the Vinod Tihara-led sports committee of the DDCA — the target of Sehwag’s action — will return to office unopposed in the elections.

Meanwhile, former Delhi all-rounder and bowling coach Manoj Prabhakar also backed Sehwag’s allegations against the DDCA sports committee to the hilt.

"Sehwag hasn’t made allegations. He has spoken the truth. In DDCA, the biggest problem is that they don’t value their cricketers," Prabhakar told this newspaper.