The team that had reached the ground first was picked by the Bihar Cricket Association president Rakesh Tiwary, while the other team was chosen by secretary Amit Kumar
A bizarre scene unfolded at the Moin-ul-Haq Stadium in Patna, which has much been in talks over the last few days over its poor infrastructure, on Friday as two teams claiming to be the Ranji Trophy squad of Bihar, turned up for the match against Mumbai. The confusion subsequently led to a delayed start to the game after heated exchanges and a scuffle between the officials of the Bihar Cricket Association (BCA), which required intervention from the local police. The match eventually began around 1 pm.
The team that had reached the ground first was picked by the BCA president Rakesh Tiwary, and it was the side that eventually played the game on Friday, while secretary Amit Kumar chose the other team. Not a single cricketer was named in both the squads.
Speaking to the Indian Express, Tiwary said his side has been picked on merit before revealing that the secretary has been suspended. He said: “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.”
In response, Kumar, having countered the suspension claim, questioned whether it is the BCCI president who selects the Indian team, reminding that a board release always has the signature of Secretary Jay Shah at the end.
“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.
BCA later released a statement on Friday blaming suspended secretary Amit for the chaos, which included picking a fake team and attacking an official of the board. “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 statement read.
Talking about the match, put to bat first, Mumbai finished the opening day with 235 for nine, where three batters – opener Bhupen Lalwani, Suved Parkar and Tanush Kotian – scored their respective fifties. Veer Pratap Singh was the pick of the bowlers for Bihar with his 4 for 32 while Sakibul Gani and Himanshu Singh picked two apiece. Veteran India batter Ajinkya Rahane, who was the main attraction at the venue among the fans, however, was benched for the match.
