NEW DELHI: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has approved the participation of northern state, Uttarakhand for the first time ever in India’s premier domestic cricket competition, Ranji Trophy for the first time ever, Times Now reports.
To ensure this, the BCCI has decided to create a 9-member ‘consensus committee’ which comprises of 6 members being from different cricket associations in the state, 1 member being nominated by the state government and 2 members being nominated by the BCCI, one of whom is veteran cricket administrator, Professor Ratnakar Shetty. The committee is expected to function for a period of 12 months until a BCCI-affiliated body is formed in the state.
“They (all rival associations in Uttarakhand) have swept aside their differences to ensure that a team from Uttarakhand plays Ranji Trophy and other BCCI tournaments from the upcoming season. So, by consensus, a committee has been formed with BCCI nominees in it. It will start working from next week onwards,” CoA head Vinod Rai was quoted as saying to Times Now after a meeting in Dehradun. Another CoA member, Diana Edulji and BCCI CEO Rahul Johri also attended the meeting.
As many as 36 teams are expected to participate in this year’s Ranji Trophy since the BCCI’s technical committee is considering to include Bihar and other north-eastern states such as Manipur, Sikkim and Nagaland in the competition. Unlike previous seasons, the BCCI could form a second division to accommodate new teams.
