BCCI Forms New Committee To Prevent Arunachal Pradesh From Forfeiting Matches

Mithun Manhas as BCCI President. Image Credits: AFPAfter the forfeiture of Arunachal Pradesh's opening Ranji Trophy match, the Board of Control for Cricket in India has now stepped in to ensure that the team does not forfeit any more matches in the ongoing domestic season. The abandonment of any forfeiture from the Arunachal Pradesh state team will include selection trials for the state's men's and women's teams across age groups and the senior level.BCCI creates new panel specially for Arunachal PradeshNotably, Arunachal Pradesh forfeited the opening Ranji Trophy fixture against Nagaland in Ahmedabad, with the team failing to take the field. The team has also failed to field teams in the Vinoo Mankad Trophy and the Under-19 Women's T20 Trophy due to the legal dispute between two units of the Arunachal Cricket Association pending before the Guwahati High Court's Itanagar bench.A new selection process has been arranged by the BCCI's Apex Council. M. Khairul Jamal Majumdar has been appointed convener of the selection process. The three-member independent selection panel comprises former Assam players Satya Gopal Chakraborty, Jayanta Chowdhury and Deep Borah, with Chakraborty being the chairman. ALSO READArunachal Pradesh Forfeits Ranji Trophy Opener vs NagalandThe unit will be overseeing the trials to ensure Arunachal fields teams in the Ranji Trophy, the Colonel C.K. Naidu Trophy, the Senior Women's T20 Trophy and the Vijay Merchant Trophy.“The BCCI will do everything, keeping the players’ interest in mind. After we came to know about the ongoing bickering between the two factions in the ACA over the election, and studied all the legal documents, we decided to step in and ensure that the players don’t suffer,” BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia told Sportstar.BCCI fights any possible interference to ensure no corruptionTo prevent local interference in the selection process, the BCCI has also placed a number of advertisements in newspapers, where players were asked to come forward and participate in the trials.“There will be no outside interference. The three-member committee will independently conduct the trials and pick the squads based on merit,” Saikia said.“When we got to know about the legal case, it was very late, so we could not do much ahead of the first game as there was no time and we also needed to study the legal matters. We have always put the players’ interest first and we will ensure that they don’t suffer in the future…” Saikia said.The support staff for the state team will also be appointed by Wednesday, which will give the team some time to prepare before resuming its domestic campaigns. Having said that, whether Arunachal Pradesh will be playing its upcoming fixture in the Col C.K. Nayudu Trophy on October 18 against Nagaland is still under the clouds.ALSO READSahibzada Farhan Shatters Abhishek Sharma’s World Record In 1st Series As PAK Captain