Day 1 of the Bihar vs Mumbai Ranji Trophy encounter faced a delay when two separate Bihar teams showed up at the stadium to compete against the Mumbai team led by Ajinkya Rahane.
In a bizarre turn of events at the Moin-ul-Haque Stadium in Patna, the Ranji Trophy clash between two Bihar teams and Ajinkya Rahane's Mumbai witnessed unexpected delays and disputes. The unusual scene unfolded as two separate Bihar teams arrived at the venue, causing a significant delay in the start of the match between the Elite Group B teams.
According to the reports, internal conflicts within the Bihar Cricket Association (BCA) as the root cause of the situation. The association was split between two factions, with one team selected by BCA President Rakesh Tiwary and the other chosen by Association Secretary Amit Kumar. The dispute persisted on the field, leading to a delayed start of the match at 11 am IST, with Tiwary's team eventually taking the field against Mumbai.
Tiwary asserted that Kumar, currently under suspension, rendered the team selected by him ineligible to participate. 'We picked the players on merit, which 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,' Tiwary explained.
Tiwary also pointed fingers at Aditya Verma, a central figure in the 2013 spot-fixing scandal, for causing 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 added.
In contrast, Kumar contested Tiwary's claims, stating, '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.'
Amidst the chaos, Mumbai batted first and concluded the first day at 235/9. Bhupen Lalwani, Suved Parkar, and Tanush Kotian each contributed a half-century, while Bihar's Veer Pratap Singh stood out with figures of 4/32. Despite being the focal point, Ajinkya Rahane did not feature in the match.
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 "Ranji Trophy 2024: Dueling Bihar teams delay Mumbai clash in unprecedented feud")
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