‘Their only aim was to bring their children into the team’: BCA chief clarifies how two Bihar teams turned up for Ranji Trophy match

New Delhi: Bihar Cricket Association (BCA) president Rakesh Tiwary on Tuesday clarified about the “two teams” mystery during the Ranji match, saying it was nothing but a conspiracy from “some people” who wanted to tarnish the image of state cricket.

On January 5, the first match of the Ranji Trophy season 2023-24 between last season’s Plate Group winners Bihar and 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. One team was approved by the BCA chief and another by someone claiming to be BCA’s secretary. However, after the police intervention, Tiwary’s side took the field.

Speaking exclusively to IANS, BCA chief said, “There was nothing like two teams, there were some people who liked to create a nuisance and their only aim was to bring their children into the team. But we cannot compromise on merit and when those people didn’t get a chance to exploit their power, they brought another team to create unrest in the Bihar Cricket Association. They wanted to tarnish the image of Bihar Cricket.”

Further elaborating about BCA, he said, “Bihar Cricket Association got recognised in 2018 after Supreme Court decision and BCCI started assisting financially. After the separation of Bihar and Jharkhand, Bihar Cricket Association became Jharkhand Cricket Association and the State of Bihar was left with no association.”

“In Bihar, people then started creating three or four associations and started fighting with each other to get recognition. Following the formation of the Bihar Cricket Association, they started fighting for recognition. Then I became the chairman, took everything in my hands and vowed to take Bihar Cricket to greater heights.”

Tiwary then said, “When I became the chairman there was not even an office of the Bihar Cricket Association, today there is an office, and everyone works very hard here. Each wing has a GM and Lokpal and the anti-corruption wing is also there.”

“The biggest win for us is that now players from Bihar are being selected in the IPL. This time one player has been selected and he comes from a very humble background. Vaibhav Suryavanshi the young cricketer is also from our state (Bihar’s Vaibhav Suryavanshi has made his Ranji Trophy debut against Mumbai at the age of 13).”

Asked about the stadium problem which also got highlighted during the Ranji match, he said, “We are looking for areas and spaces where we can build a world-class stadium. Meanwhile, we have taken Moin-ul-Haq Stadium in Patna on rent from the State Government and we conduct matches there only for now. Moin-ul-Haq Stadium is also under talks to be renovated and is under the tender process.”

He also thanked the BCCI for the support.

“BCCI wholeheartedly supports Bihar Cricket, whatever we are doing right now is all because of the support provided by BCCI. We have no medium of revenue generation at present, so whatever we are doing is because of the BCCI.”

Talking about the talent at the grass root level, he said, “We have started scouting at the district level to bring the talent from the grassroots levels in Bihar and for that, we have conducted around 600 matches. That has yielded players like Vaibhav Suryavanshi, who made debut in the Ranji Trophy at the age of 13. We are also focusing on women’s cricket and you all will be able to see results in the coming one or two years.”

“I’ve put my maximum time into promoting cricket in Bihar. In each district, teams are being monitored closely and whenever I feel there is some discrepancy happening in the selection, I immediately approach the BCCI and ask them to send people to oversee the selection here. Because they are technical experts. I want to bring transparency and make Bihar Cricket corruption free in order to develop the game in the State. Bihar is filled with talent and we want that talent to come out and shine on the bigger stage.”

–IANS