In a bizarre incident, the start of the Ranji Trophy match between Bihar and Mumbai was delayed due to the tensions in Bihar Cricket Association(BCA). Both Rakesh Tiwary, president of BCA and secretary Amit Kumar arrived at the venue with their own teams, claiming to represent Bihar.
Ranji Trophy: Confusion in Bihar camp
The Ranji Trophy match at Patna’s Moin-ul-Haq Stadium, which was in spotlight over its poor infrastructure, witnessed another dramatic event where the tensions between two officials in BCA took the field, delaying the start of the match. There were heated exchanges and minor scuffles between the top officials of the board at the start of the game. Eventually, the Ranji Trophy match started around afternoon with the local police intervention.
While not a single cricketer was named in both the squads, BCA President’s Rakesh Tiwary’s team was allowed to take the field in their season opener against Mumbai since they arrived at the ground first.
2 different teams arrived in Patna to play Ranji Trophy claiming to represent Bihar, selected by President and Secretary respectively. Heated exchange and tussle took place. President's team played as they arrived early. (Indian Express).
Secretary said, "how can President…
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) January 5, 2024
Speaking to the media, Rakesh Tiwary said, “We have picked the team on merit and that is the right team. You see the talent that is coming from Bihar. We have a cricketer (Sakib Hussain), who is picked in the IPL. We have a 12-year-old prodigy making his debut in the game. The other is being picked by the secretary who is suspended, so it can’t be the real team.”
Amit Kumar challenged Tiwary’s allegations on his suspension and said, “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 BCCI president Roger Binny announcing the squad? You will always see the signature of Secretary Jay Shah,” he said.
Later in the evening, BCA released a statement blaming Amit Kumar for arriving with a fake team and attacking an official at the entrance gate. “There was a life-threatening attack on BCA’s OSD Manoj Kumar by those involved in the fake team. The miscreants have been identified and action will be taken against them,” the statement read.
Tiwary also blamed Aditya Verma, the original petitioner in the 2013 spot-fixing case, for creating 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,” he said.
However, secretary Amit countered the claim and said, “He is blaming Aditya Verma, but why was he silent when he was on his side? BCA is the only association where the secretary has no power.”
Mumbai off to a great start in the Ranji Trophy Opener
The delay on Day 1 didn’t impact the game much as Mumbai take control over their Ranji Trophy opener. After being reduced for only 251, Mumbai bowlers rattled the home team as they picked up 5 wickets for 77 runs at Tea on Day 2. Mumbai’s Bhupen Lalwani, Suved Parkar and Tanush Kotian brought up impressive fifties on Day 1 while Mohit Avasthi thrashed Bihar’s batting order by picking up 4 wickets so far.
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