The commencement of the Ranji Trophy season in Patna took an unexpected turn as two teams, both purporting to represent Bihar, showed up for the match against Mumbai at the Moin-ul-Haq Stadium. The internal strife within the Bihar Cricket Association (BCA) spilt onto the field, leading to heated exchanges and a minor altercation among officials at the start of the game. Ultimately, local police intervention enabled the Bihar-Mumbai season opener to kick off at approximately 11 am.
Out of the two teams that arrived early in the morning, the one selected by BCA President Rakesh Tiwary eventually participated in the game, while the squad backed by Secretary Amit Kumar found themselves sidelined. Notably, neither team had a single cricketer listed in their respective squads. Both Tiwary and Kumar insisted to The Indian Express that their team was the legitimate representative.
“We have selected the team based on merit, and that is the correct team. Look at the talent emerging from Bihar. We have a cricketer (Sakib Hussain) chosen for the IPL. Additionally, we have a 12-year-old prodigy making his debut in the game. The other team is being selected by the suspended secretary, so it cannot be considered the legitimate team,” he conveyed to The Indian Express.
“First things first: I won the election, and I am an official secretary of the BCA. You can’t suspend a secretary. Secondly, how can a president select a team? Have you ever seen the Indian Cricket Board president Roger Binny announcing the squad? You will always see the signature of Secretary Jay Shah,” Speaking upon the suspension claims secretary Amit said.
He is creating a nuisance because his son was not picked: BCA President
In a press release later in the day, the BCA attributed the formation of a fraudulent team and the assault on an official at the gate to the suspended secretary, Amit. Individuals linked to the fake team carried out a life-threatening attack on BCA’s OSD Manoj Kumar. The wrongdoers have been identified, and necessary measures will be taken against them. BCA President Tiwary also placed blame on Aditya Verma, the original petitioner in the 2013 spot-fixing case, for the chaos at the stadium.
“His only job is to ruin Bihar’s image. He is creating a nuisance because his son was not picked. He tries to put pressure on us, but we have never listened to him as we pick teams according to merit,” Tiwary further told The Indian Express.
Let us look at how Twitter has reacted to this news;
The situation is disgraceful at its peak. There's a likelihood of Bihar facing a ban, as politics and corruption are corroding cricket in the state.
— Vipin Tiwari (@Vipintiwari952_) January 5, 2024
Bihar can do anything.. looks like one team sent by Nitish Kumar and another team sent by BJP..
— Satya Prakash (@Satya_Prakash08) January 5, 2024
Gems of Bihar. Phir se ban hoga association.
?— Abhishek Ojha (@vicharabhio) January 5, 2024
Bihar is not for beginners
— Div? (@div_yumm) January 5, 2024
Richest Board in the world cannot even control domestic cricket?
— Rajiv (@Rajiv1841) January 5, 2024
Worst association in the country.
— Anshumaan Singh ?? (@Anshum1958) January 5, 2024
This is so funny ?at the same time very concerning as well.
— Nikhil Gupta (@Nikhilgupta1104) January 5, 2024
Everything is possible in Bihar ?
— ASAN (@Atulsingh_asan) January 6, 2024
