The commencement of the Ranji Trophy season in Patna took an unconventional turn as two teams, each purportedly representing Bihar, showed up for the match against Mumbai at the Moin-ul-Haq Stadium. The ongoing internal strife between two factions of the Bihar Cricket Association (BCA) spilled onto the field, leading to heated exchanges and a minor altercation among officials at the outset of the game. Eventually, the local police had to intervene, enabling the Bihar-Mumbai season-opener to kick off at approximately 11 am.
Out of the two teams that arrived early in the morning, the one selected by BCA President Rakesh Tiwary ultimately took part in the game, while the squad backed by Secretary Amit Kumar found themselves sidelined. Strikingly, neither team had a single cricketer listed in their respective squads. Both Tiwary and Kumar insisted to The Indian Express that their team was the legitimate representative. (Virat Kohli’s Knock Vs Pakistan To England’s Win Vs India; Unforgettable Moments From T20 World Cup 2022 – In Pics)
“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,” he told The Indian Express.
Secretary Amit challenged Tiwary’s suspension claims. “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.
Later in the day, BCA , in a press release, blamed suspended secretary Amit for coming up with a fake team and attacking an official at the gate. “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 BCA release said.
BCA president Tiwary also blamed Aditya Verma, the original petitioner in the 2013 spot-fixing case, for the chaos at the stadium. “His only job is to ruin Bihar’s image. He is creating a nuisance because his son was not picked. He tries to put pressure on us, but we have never listened to him as we pick teams according to merit,” Tiwary told The Indian Express. (ICC T20 World Cup 2024’s Schedule Announced, India vs Pakistan To Take Place On THIS Date)
However, secretary Amit countered the claim. “He is blaming Aditya Verma, but why was he silent when he was on his side? BCA is the only association where the secretary has no power,” he said.
As for Verma, he called this a fight between the president and secretary. “This is the fight between both of them. My son has done well in the trials. If my son was picked in one of the squads, is it my fault? He (Tiwary) is after me because I am questioning their corruption, they blame it on me,” he said.
The unpleasant beginning to the day had no effect on the hosts. After winning the toss, Bihar bowled out the formidable Mumbai for 235/9. With statistics of 4/32, experienced bowler Veer Pratap Singh was the primary wicket-taker for Bihar.