Two Bihar teams turn up for Ranji Trophy tie; altercation delays match against Mumbai
It later came to light that the weird episode was an outcome of the internal feud between two factions of the Bihar Cricket Association
In a bizarre turn of events at the Moin-ul-Haq Stadium in Patna on Friday (January 5), two teams claiming to be the Ranji Trophy squad of Bihar turned up for the match against Mumbai.
Not surprisingly, it was soon followed by a heated exchange and a scuffle between the Bihar Cricket Association (BCA) officials. The local police had to step in to resolve the matter. The chaos led to a delay in the match which eventually began at 1 pm.
Outcome of internal feud
Later, it came to light that the weird episode was an outcome of the internal feud between two factions of the Bihar Cricket Association (BCA), said a report in The Indian Express. BCA president Rakesh Tiwary had named one of the teams, while the other one was picked by association secretary Amit Kumar. The match could finally begin with the team named by Tiwary taking the field against Mumbai.
Defending his move, Tiwary said his side has been picked on merit before revealing that the secretary has been suspended. He said: “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 squad has been picked by the secretary who is suspended, so it can’t be the real team.”
The BCA chief also blamed Aditya Verma, a petitioner in the 2013 spot-fixing case, for the ruckus at the stadium. “His only job is to ruin Bihar’s image. He is creating a nuisance because his son was not picked,” he added. Verma, however, said it’s a feud between Tiwary and Kumar and he has nothing to do with it. “This is the fight between the two of them. He (Tiwary) is after me because I’m questioning their corruption,” he added.
BCA blames ‘secretary’
On the other hand, Kumar countered the charge of his suspension, asking whether it is the BCCI president who selects the Indian team. He reminded him that a board release always bears the signature of BCCI secretary Jay Shah. “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,” he said.
Meanwhile, the BCA came out with a statement, blaming “suspended secretary” Amit Kumar for the confusion which saw a “fake team” landing at the stadium and attacking a board official. “There was a life-threatening attack on BCA’s OSD Manoj Kumar by those involved in the fake team. The miscreants have been identified and action will be taken against them,” the statement read.
