Ranji Trophy 2024: Strange scenes in Patna as two teams turn up to represent Bihar for a match against Mumbai

The start of the Ranji Trophy season in Patna took an unusual twist as two teams, both claiming to represent Bihar, appeared for the match against Mumbai at the Moin-ul-Haq Stadium. The internal conflict within the Bihar Cricket Association (BCA) escalated onto the field, resulting in intense exchanges and a minor altercation among officials at the beginning of the game. Ultimately, the local police had to step in, allowing the Bihar-Mumbai season opener to commence around 11 am.

Among the two teams that arrived early in the morning, the one chosen by BCA President Rakesh Tiwary ultimately participated in the game, leaving the squad supported by Secretary Amit Kumar on the sidelines. Interestingly, neither team had a single cricketer listed in their respective squads. Both Tiwary and Kumar asserted to The Indian Express that their team was the rightful 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 in 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.

Secretary Amit also went onto challenge the suspension claims, “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,” he said.

His only job is to ruin Bihar’s image: BCA President

In a press release later in the day, BCA attributed the creation of a fraudulent team and the assault on an official at the gate to the suspended secretary Amit. A life-threatening attack on BCA’s OSD Manoj Kumar was perpetrated by individuals associated with the fake team. The culprits have been identified, and appropriate action will be taken against them. President Tiwary of BCA also held Aditya Verma, the original petitioner in the 2013 spot-fixing case, responsible for the disorder 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.