Allow Bihar to play Ranji Trophy: SC orders BCCI

New Delhi : The Supreme Court on Thursday ordered the Board of Control for Cricket in India to allow Bihar play Ranji Trophy and other domestic cricket tournaments. Bihar last played in Ranji Trophy in 2003-04.
Crippled by infighting among three separate cricket units, Bihar were omitted from the Ranji Trophy with Jharkhand winning the right to play in India’s premier domestic tournament.
The Supreme Court order comes in the wake of an appeal made by Aditya Verma, who is the secretary of the Cricket Association of Bihar. Verma had been fighting for Bihar’s right of place in the Ranji Trophy for almost two years.
It was Verma’s petition that opened up the 2013 IPL match-fixing and betting case that led to the ouster of two BCCI presidents – N. Srinivasan and Anurag Thakur. As a follow-up to this case, the RM Lodha commission was formed and reforms suggested for the cricket Board.
The Supreme Court bench, headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra, said the decision to admit Bihar was passed “keeping in view the cause of cricket.”
It is not clear which Bihar body will be able to field a team but it is likely that the BCCI?or the Committee of Administrators may form an adhoc body to look into the affairs of Bihar cricket.
In the new constitution proposed by the CoA, Bihar is among 30 states to be accorded full membership. The Supreme Court order is in line with that proposal.