Bihar finally returned to Ranji Trophy after a long-gap of eighteen years. They did not get any opportunity to participate in any of the domestic cricket tournaments after the formation of Jharkhand on November 15, 2000, when it lost its cricketing headquarter at Jamshedpur to Jharkhand.
But in April 2018, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) reinstated Bihar, ahead of the 2018–19 Ranji Trophy tournament. And Almost two decades after the bifurcation of the state in 2000, they got a taste of India’s premier first-class competition on Thursday (November 1) when they took on Uttarakhand in the Plate Group. However, they could not celebrate their comeback to Ranji Trophy as Uttarakhand bowled them out for just 60.
Read More: Uttarakhand vs Bihar – Scorecard.
That the Pragyan Ojha-led side would struggle in the game was very much clear when they lost opener Vikash Ranjan and number three Babul Kumar for ducks inside the first over of the game. Deepak Dhapola, who finished the game with stunning figures of 6 for 13, picked up both the wickets.
In the fifth over, Dhapola struck again to remove another opener Kumar Rajnish for 5. Vivek Mohan and Keshav Kumar managed to breach the double digit mark before Dhapola sent back both of them. The batting side was 5 down for just 28 runs. With Dhapola spitting fire, even crossing the 50-run mark was looking like a distant dream for them. But they eventually managed to cross it, thanks to some handy runs from the lower order before being dismissed for just 60. Overall, only three batsmen managed to reach the double digits. Vivek Mohan’s 13 was the highest score.
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