Bihar eligible to play national cricket tournaments after 18 years

In a recent development, the state of Bihar has been incorporated in the national level championships, including the Ranji Trophy, to be played from September this year. The Cricket Association of Bihar has been out of competitive cricket for almost 18 years, and the development comes as a much-welcomed move for the players hailing from the state.

The decision was conveyed by the Supreme Court, this Tuesday. The Committee of Administrators (CoA) and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) told a bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra, that was hearing the plea of Cricket Association of Bihar (CAB), filed through its secretary Aditya Varma.

The plea sought initiation of contempt proceedings against some office-bearers of the BCCI including for not complying with its earlier order allowing Bihar to participate in Ranji Trophy and other national championships. The CAB had sought action against BCCI’s acting secretary Amitabh Chaudhary, Chief Executive Officer Rahul Johri and its acting president CK Khanna alleging a violation of the apex court’s January 4 order.

Three bodies claiming to be the real representative of the state cricket

Earlier, the CAB alleged the BCCI for neither inviting any cricket association to play in the Vijay Hazare Trophy nor allowing any cricket association from Bihar to participate in the tournament held in February. The court had then given a ray of hope to cricketers from state, who could not play national-level tournaments for the last 18 years. And after the formation of Jharkhand in 2000, a dispute had arisen in the cricket administration of Bihar and two separate cricket associations were formed in the two states.

While the Jharkhand Cricket Association went on to become a permanent member of the BCCI, the BCA (Bihar Cricket Association) first got the affiliation from the apex cricket body but its membership was cancelled later.

Besides the BCA, the state has two other cricket associations — the Association of Bihar Cricket (ABC) and the Cricket Association of Bihar (CAB) — claiming to be the real representative of the state cricket body.

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