Bihar Cricket Association (BCA) president Rakesh Tiwary is alleged to have interfered in team selection matters and additionally has been named in a sexual harassment FIR filed at the Parliament Street police station in Delhi. According to a report, there are accusations against Tiwary by his colleagues that he sacked board officials and coaches who didn’t toe his line.
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During the season as many as 62 cricketers represented Bihar across various tournaments and three coaches were changed apart from a selector in the space of few months.
Tarun Kumar, a former first-class cricketer and coach from Bihar, said Tiwary would request to accommodate relative of high-profile individuals in the various age-group teams and upon refusal, he was sacked.
“There would be frequent requests to accommodate relatives of bureaucrats, politicians, businessmen. Such requests would regularly be from Tiwary. As I didn’t agree, I was sacked. Some of the players for the Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy were not even fit for club cricket,” Kumar was quoted as saying by The Indian Express.
Kumar’s replacement Nikhilesh Ranjan took over for the Vijay Hazare Trophy and was then demoted to assistant coach after just two matches before being sacked.
“In the third match, Pavan Kumar, my assistant, was made the head coach and I was made his assistant. About 30 minutes into the fourth match, the manager called me while I was at the ground. He asked me to go back to the hotel, pack up and leave. Since there is no secretary or joint secretary, the president is in charge,” Ranjan told the daily.
However, Tiwary has denied the allegations. “We won’t play sons of bureaucrats and other such influential people just because their fathers are at an advantageous position,” Tiwary was quoted as saying.
He instead claims that the coach was causing rift in the team and hence sacked.
“In the Vijay Hazare Trophy, of the two coaches sent… there was a tussle between some of the players and we found that a coach was involved in incitement. The Ranji Trophy coach was found guilty in a very old case by the court of the Ethics Officer. However, we still appointed him. Later, someone filed a petition in the court of the Ethics Officer and the court held that once it has deemed someone guilty, how can he be appointed coach once again,” Tiwary said.
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