The Bihar Cricket Association (BCA) has finally announced its 20-man squad for the upcoming Ranji Trophy, set to begin on October 11, after the intervention of the Patna High Court. Interestingly, the state’s young batting sensation, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, has not been included in the squad that will travel to Rohtak for Bihar’s opening match against Haryana.
The legal battle within the BCA has complicated the selection process. On August 5, the Patna High Court appointed Justice Shailesh Kumar Sinha as an ombudsman to oversee the BCA’s affairs. Justice Sinha reinstated Amit Kumar as the secretary of the association and formed a new selection committee, which then picked the initial Ranji squad.
However, the BCA president, Rakesh Tiwari, had previously removed Kumar from his position, leading to the ongoing dispute. On Tuesday, the Patna High Court temporarily suspended its earlier order, rendering the initial team selection invalid and removing Kumar from his post as secretary.
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The court also dismissed the ombudsman, Justice Sinha, from his role. In response, a new squad was chosen by a different selection committee, headed by Madhusudan Tantubhai. Amit Kumar, while respecting the court’s ruling, has expressed his intention to consult with his lawyer after Dussehra (October 12) and possibly take the case to the Supreme Court.
Bihar Prodigy Vaibhav Suryavanshi misses out as BCA announces squad after Patna High Court’s interventionhttps://t.co/gOs1OTzRnx
— News18 CricketNext (@cricketnext) October 9, 2024
This is not the first time the BCA has faced such complications. Earlier in 2024, two different squads—one selected by Amit Kumar and the other by Rakesh Tiwari—showed up for Bihar’s opening Ranji match against Mumbai, causing confusion until the Patna High Court intervened.
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Meanwhile, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Bihar’s young cricket prodigy, remains excluded from the squad despite his impressive performances. Last year, at just 12 years old, he made his first-class debut for Bihar, surpassing Sachin Tendulkar and Yuvraj Singh as the youngest to do so in the domestic tournament. More recently, Suryavanshi made headlines by scoring a century off just 58 balls in an unofficial U-19 Test against Australia in Chennai. His exclusion from the squad has raised many eyebrows in the cricketing community.
Bihar squad for Ranji Trophy: Veer Pratap Singh (capt), Shakibul Gani (vice-capt), Bipin Sourabh, Akash Raj, Shraman Nigrodh (wk), Babul Kumar, Ayush Loharuka (wk), Raghwendra Pratap Singh, Mayank Choudhary, Himanshu Singh, Sachin Kumar Singh, Abhijeet Saket, Anuj Raj, Shakib Hussain, Shabbir Khan, Rishav Raj, Harsh Vikram Singh, Jitin Kumar Yadav, Yashpal Yadav, Rishi Raj.
