Legal battles, new squads: Bihar's Ranji Trophy drama unfolds

The Bihar squad for the 2024-25 Ranji Trophy season was finally picked on Tuesday after extensive deliberations and legal wranglings.

The 20-member Bihar squad, which will to travel to Rohtak for their opening match against Haryana on October 11, was announced by a new selection committee on Tuesday after the Patna high court suspended its earlier decision to reinstate Amit Kumar as BCA secretary.

On August 5, the Patna high court had appointed Justice Shailesh Kumar Sinha as ombudsman to oversee the Bihar Cricket Association. Following this, Justice Sinha reinstated Kumar as the secretary of BCA, who had been sacked by current BCA president Rakesh Tiwari.

Justice Sinha also announced a new selection committee, chaired by Zishan-ul Yaquin, which picked the Bihar squad on October 7, said a report in ESPNCricinfo.

However, on October 8, the Patna high court temporarily suspended its earlier order, rendering the selection committee's decision invalid. The ruling also removed Kumar as BCA secretary and dismissed ombudsman Justice Sinha from his position.

Following this, a new squad was announced by the selection committee led by Madhusudan Tantubhai on October 8.

Kumar indicated that he might approach the Supreme Court after Dusshera.

"I respect the court's order, but after Dussehra (on October 12), I will speak to my lawyer and, if he agrees, I will take the matter to the Supreme Court," Kumar was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo.

The

court ruling offers a major relief for Bihar's cricketers, who have been caught in the ongoing power struggle between BCA president Tiwari and former secretary Kumar.

Their rift led to two separate training camps being held in Patna, echoing the situation in January 2024. At that time, two rival factions sent teams to play against Mumbai at Moin-ul-Haq Stadium, leading to Patna high court's intervention to formalise one squad.

"I respect the court's decision. I was heading the selection committee only after the ombudsman gave his order. I am happy that the players' dilemma has been resolved and they are finally going to Rohtak. I am also pleased that many players from the team I had selected are part of this squad. I've said it before and I'll say it again: I have no allegiance to any group; my goal is to improve Bihar cricket," said Zishan, chairman of the previous selection committee.

The players from both training camps have been required to inform the BCA via email that they had no contact with Kumar and were not part of the camp organised by him.

Bihar is placed in a tough Group C for the upcoming Ranji Trophy season, alongside Bengal, Haryana, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, and Uttar Pradesh. Last season, they finished at the bottom of Group B, recording four defeats and three draws in seven matches.

Bihar squad for Ranji Trophy: Veer Pratap Singh (captain), Shakibul Gani (vice-captain), Bipin Sourabh, Akash Raj, Shraman Nigrodh (wicketkeeper), Babul Kumar, Ayush Loharuka (wicketkeeper), 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.