 "Explained: How two Bihar teams turned up for Ranji Trophy match vs Mumbai")
On the morning of January 5, 2024, the first match of the Ranji Trophy season 2023-24 between last season's Plate Group winners Bihar and 41-time champions Mumbai saw plenty of drama even before its start at the Moin-Ul-Haq Stadium in Patna. Two teams from Bihar appeared at the gates of the stadium with team sheets in hand, featuring two completely different sets of players in their squad. One team was approved by Bihar Cricket Association (BCA) President Rakesh Tiwary and another by Amit Kumar, claiming to be BCA’s Secretary.
Which team played the match?
Eventually, at 11 am, after nearly one and a half hours were lost because of the chaos, the team with the signature of BCA President Tiwary entered the ground, and the match could start. The team with Amit Kumar’s signature on the team sheet was driven out of the Moin-Ul-Haq complex.
How were the two teams selected?
Amit Kumar, claiming to be Secretary, was suspended from his post on January 2, 2023. However, he continues to claim that he was wrongfully removed from his post. As Secretary, his job is to select teams, which he did.
'I won the election, and I am the 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,' Kumar was quoted as questioning by Indian Express.
Bihar cricket team selected by Amit Kumar. Photo: X
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The second team was selected by BCA President Tiwary, who said that Kumar was just creating a nuisance. He further said that the team picked by the board is full of talented cricketers, naming Sakib Hussain (Bihar’s only cricketer to be picked by an IPL side) and Vaibhav Suryavanshi (12-year-old who made his First-Class debut against Mumbai in that match).
'We picked the players on merit, which 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,' Tiwary was quoted as saying.
Not the first such instance
Bihar got the first chance to play Ranji Trophy in the 2018-19 season after a gap of 15 years. However, after the completion of that season, which saw former India cricketer Pragyan Ojha lead the Bihar side, a feud developed in the BCA between President Rakesh Tiwary and then Secretary Sanjay Kumar. As a result, they selected two teams for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2020-21.
Why did Bihar not play Ranji Trophy for 17 years?
Cricket Association Bihar (CAB) used to be the body running the game in the united Bihar-Jharkhand. However, once Jharkhand formed its cricket board (Jharkhand State Cricket Association-JSCA) and had the best of resources in terms of Keenan Stadium in Jamshedpur and Morabadi Stadium in Ranchi, they were granted permanent membership by newly elected BCCI President Jagmohan Dalmia on September 30, 2001. This happened only one day after BCA had received permanent membership on September 29 by outgoing BCCI president AC Muthiah.
It was only after the Lodha Committee's recommendations, which stated that all state boards should have voting rights in BCCI's Annual General Meeting (AGM) and should participate in premier First-Class competitions, that Bihar, along with Uttarakhand, Pondicherry, Sikkim, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, and Meghalaya.
How are two factions of the BCA existing?
These two factions, one led by President Tiwary and the other by suspended secretary Amit Kumar, also have two separate websites. The official address on both websites is different; while the one with the URL ‘biharcricketassociation’ mentions only President Tiwary’s official address as the contact point in Patna, the other with the URL ‘biharcricketassociations’ mentions both Tiwary’s and another Arvind Kumar’s address as two different contact points.
Bihar Cricket Association address on the webiste with url- biharcricketassociation. Photo: Screengrab
Bihar Cricket Association address on the webiste with url- biharcricketassociations. Photo: Screengrab
What does the BCCI constitution say about the roles of the Secretary and President of a Board?
According to BCCI’s constitution, the President will preside over all the meetings of the General Body and Apex Council. However, it is the Secretary who shall convene all the meetings be it the AGM, Special General Meeting (SGM), or other such meetings of the General Body and the Governing Council.
How are Bihar playing Mumbai?
Bihar qualified for the Elite group for the first time in the Ranji Trophy after having played in the Plate Group for the 2018-19, 2019-20, 2021-22, and 2022-23 seasons. They won the final of the Plate Group in the 2022-23 season by beating Manipur and moved to the Elite Group for the first time since 2003-04.
In the match, after bowling Mumbai out for 251, Bihar were six wickets down when bad light stopped play on Day 2.