Just before the Ranji Trophy match between Bihar and Mumbai at the Moin-ul-Haq Stadium in Patna, a totally unexpected and bizarre incident took place. Not one but two teams claiming to be Bihar’s Ranji Trophy squad turned up for the game in Patna.
The start of the game was delayed due to the bizarre circumstances. It led to a heated confrontation and scuffle between the officials of the Bihar Cricket Association (BCA). The local police had to intervene to bring the situation under control. After hours of delay, the game eventually started around 1 pm.
As per reports, the team that arrived at the stadium first was picked by the BCA president Rakesh Tiwary while the second team was picked by secretary Amit Kumar. In the end, the team picked by BCA president played the game.
“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,” BCA president Tiwary told the Indian Express.
Tiwary also claimed that Kumar has been suspended from the post of secretary. In response to Tiwary’s claim, Kumar 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.”
Bihar takes opening day honours:
Talking about the game, Bihar’s players managed to put the controversy behind and came up with a fine show with the ball against the domestic giants. At the end of day one, Mumbai were reeling at 235 for 9. For Mumbai, Bhupen Lalwani, Suved Parkar and Tanush Kotian scored fifties.
For Bihar, Veer Pratap Singh starred with the ball, taking 4 for 32 while Sakibul Gani and Himanshu Singh picked two apiece. The start of second day’s play was delayed due to bad light.
