Patna, Oct 8
The Bihar Cricket Association (BCA) has confirmed that the official selection for the upcoming Ranji Trophy will be conducted solely through the training camp organised under the supervision of BCA President Rakesh Tiwari. The BCA camp is the only authorised program for player selection.
This clarification comes after several players, including Babul Kumar, Veer Pratap, Sharman Nigrodh, Akash Raj, Sakibul Gani etc, raised concerns about their names being falsely included in a list circulated on social media. They affirmed that they have consistently trained only under the official BCA camp, supervised by Rakesh Tiwari.
"The Bihar Cricket Association (BCA) office operates from 45/C, Patliputra Colony, Patna. The current office-bearers include Rakesh Kumar Tiwari as president, Dilip Singh as vice-president, Ziaul Arfeen as secretary, Priya Kumari as joint secretary, and Abhishek Nandan as treasurer. The official website of BCA is biharcricketassociation.com," the BCA said in a statement.
The BCA further denounced the confusion created by Amit Kumar under the pretext of selecting the Ranji team, emphasising that no registered players of the BCA have participated in any of Amit Kumar's activities.
"Amit Kumar was suspended from the position of secretary in January 2023 and was officially removed from the post in May 2023 by the order of the Lokpal. He has been spreading misleading information and running an unauthorised BCA website, against which a criminal case has been filed at Patliputra Police Station," the BCA said in a statement.
"One person has already been arrested and sent to jail in this case. While the Patna High Court has currently stayed Amit Kumar's arrest, he continues to collaborate with anti-association elements, which negatively impacts the careers of cricket players," the statement further read.
The BCA mentioned that there is no court order for Amit Kumar's reinstatement and no office-bearer or affiliated district association of the BCA is associated with the removed secretary.
"There is no court order for Amit Kumar's reinstatement. Additionally, there is no order allowing him to call an AGM (Annual General Meeting). No office-bearer or affiliated district association of the Bihar Cricket Association (BCA) is associated with the removed Secretary. How can a single so-called Secretary call any meeting?," the BCA raised a question and called out the lies of Amit Kumar.
"The Single Bench's order in CWJC 13405/21 has been stayed by the Division Bench of the Patna High Court, presided over by the Honourable Chief Justice, in LPA 906 of 2024. Furthermore, the appointment of the Honourable Lokpal under the CWJC 13405/21 order dated August 5, 2024, has also been automatically stayed," the BCA added.
The Ranji Trophy will get underway from October 11 and Bihar will play its first match against Haryana on the same day in Rohtak at Ch Bansi Lal Cricket Stadium.