Bihar Cricket Association regains BCCI affiliation

The Bihar Cricket Association (BCA) has regained affiliation to the BCCI, after 6 years. This follows after BCA members created a ruckus this evening outside the BCCI working committee meet venue in Chennai threatening self-immolation if they were not granted affiliation to the Indian board.

The BCCI decided at its annual General Body meeting to merge the Bihar and Jharkhand Cricket Associations under the banner of the BCA, restoring the BCA’s affiliation to the BCCI which was revoked six years ago and given to Jharkhand, under former BCCI chief Jagmohan Dalmiya. Poor infrastructure had been cited as a reason for revoking Bihar's affiliate status.

Desperate measures

Earlier in the day high drama gripped Chennai after some members of the Bihar Cricket Association created a ruckus at the Taj Coromandel Hotel - the venue for the BCCI's Annual General Meeting in Chennai. The demonstrators demanded affiliate status for the state's cricket body, with some members even threatening self-immolation if their demand was not met. TIMES NOW’s Dinesh Chopra spoke with Mritunjaya Tiwari, one of the protesting members of the BCA. “The BCCI has virtually put a stop to cricket in Bihar in the past 6 years by taking away the BCA’s affiliation. Bihar’s cricketers have been treated unfairly. For four years we have to gone to BCCI meets in Patna, Kolkata, Delhi and Mumbai and asked that cricket be restored to Bihar, every time they gave assurances but never followed through. Today if they do not take a decision, all 12 state players – some of them Ranji trophy players – have vowed to immolate themselves,” said Tiwari.

Lalu vs Pawar?

These members claimed to have the blessings of Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, who also heads the Bihar Cricket Association. Tiwari insisted, however, that their protest had no political agenda. “We are not associated with any politician. We are asking the BCCI for our rights. The BCCI spends the public’s money holding meetings in expensive hotels, it’s a shame that meanwhile Bihar’s cricketers are languishing,” said Tiwari.