With five days to go for the start of the Ranji Trophy season, Bihar is yet to name a squad for the tournament. In fact, players have reportedly been called up to two separate training camps. But why is this the case?
According to a report from ESPNCricinfo, a power struggle within the Bihar Cricket Association (BCA) between president Rakesh Tiwary and secretary Amit Kumar has led to each one calling a set of players for trials at two different grounds at the same date and time, with some players named in both lists.
Two teams for Bihar? Not the first time
Strangely enough, a similar situation arose in January this year, when two different teams were named on paper for Bihar's match against Mumbai at Patna's Moin-ul-Haq Stadium, a match which saw India U19 batter Vaibhav Suryavanshi make his first-class debut with a listed age of 12 at the time.
On that occasion, although initial reports claimed both teams had shown up at the venue, it soon emerged that only one had done so – the one selected by president Tiwary. This was the official BCA team, as at the time secretary Kumar had been suspended and on paper did not hold any position within the organisation.
The matter at hand in the current situation, though, is more complex.
While the situation was straightforward in the previous instance thanks to Kumar's suspension, that has since been overturned. Justice Shailesh Kumar Sinha, appointed ombudsman of the BCA following an order of the Patna High Court, instructed Kumar to resume his duties as secretary.
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As a result, Kumar went on to chair the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the BCA on September 30, and form a selection committee. However, there appears to have been a disconnect between the two 'camps', as there are now two selection committees for the BCA – one under Tiwari's authority and one under Kumar's – each of which has called up a different set of players for trials.
The players called by both committees have reportedly opted to attend the trials organised by the one under Tiwari's leadership, as his was the team that was recognised as the official one by the BCCI last time around.
Amit Kumar: This is cheating the players of Bihar
But when questioned about the confusion, Kumar remained firm in his stance that his team would be the official one, saying the BCCI had been informed about all the decisions made during the AGM, as well as an order from the Patna High Court which gave Kumar the authority to select Bihar's team.
On Tiwari also calling a set of players for trials, Kumar also said, "This is cheating the players of Bihar and playing with their future. It is the misfortune of Bihar cricket that due to some people, such an image of Bihar is being seen.
"But if this happens then that team will be unconstitutional and BCCI will be responsible for it. Even after the High Court's order, if BCCI approves that unconstitutional team instead of us then it will also be a violation of the court's order."
The feud between Tiwary and Kumar appears to be a long-running one. Prior to his suspension, Kumar had sent out a show cause notice in February 2023 to the secretaries of various district-level cricket associations in Bihar for attending an "unauthorized/illegal SGM [Special General Meeting] on 12/02/2023 at Siwan".
In the letter, Kumar claimed that an SGM had already been convened on February 4, in which "the General Body of BCA had unanimously stopped Mr. Rakesh Kumar Tiwary to work/function as the President of BCA".
It is unclear what the exact reason is for the breakdown in communcation between these warring factions in the BCA. At the time of writing, Bihar's first Ranji Trophy match is five days away, against Haryana in Rohtak. The final squad has not yet been named or approved.
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