Return to Elite tier shines harsh light on Bihar's disrepair

There are two cricket teams in Bihar. One of them official. When the state's cricket makes news, it's often for undesired reasons. Most recently, in the first round of the 2023-24 Ranji Trophy, it was for two teams (almost) turning up for the same game and the match being played in a stadium in complete disrepair. Such was - or is - the state of the stadium, that fans who made their way to the game were greeted by "no entry" signs.

Not the best way to mark an entry to Elite Ranji action; this is the first time Bihar are playing at that level since Jharkhand split away from the state in 2000.

ESPNcricinfo was one of many publications to report the situation at the old Moin-ul-Haq Stadium in Patna for that game against Mumbai. Fortunately, there has been a reaction. Unfortunately, the Bihar Cricket Association (BCA) might not be able to do a lot.

"We have not got this entire stadium from the state government, but only the grounds including the pitch. Apart from that, everything - the stands, the pavilion - is managed by the state government," Sunil Singh, BCA's general manager of cricket operations, told ESPNcricinfo. "So we can neither repair the stands nor is it our responsibility to take care of them. That is why we put up those posters [saying "no entry"], so no untoward incident takes place."

That said, it seems the pitch and outfield are not necessarily up to standard either. "To be frank, the outfield or pitch here is not suitable to host a first-class match," a local BCCI-affiliated curator said. "I can give five marks out of ten to the outfield as per BCCI criteria. But I will be able to give only two or two-and-a-half out of ten to the pitch here."

We turned to Tejashwi Yadav then. He is the deputy chief minister of the state of Bihar, and is also a former cricketer who played first-class cricket in the late 2000s and even got into the Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) roster briefly.

"I have played a lot of cricket at this ground and am fully aware of the conditions here," he told us. "The good news is that a decision has been taken to rebuild this stadium. Right now, Ranji matches are going on. As soon as the Ranji matches are over, we will demolish this stadium and build it afresh."

The Moin-ul-Haq, though, isn't the only stadium in Patna that has hosted senior domestic matches. There is also the Urja Stadium, where matches of the Ranji plate division were held last season. But it's a small ground, with the outfield not large enough to host top-tier domestic cricket.

Stadiums aren't the only thing that aren't quite ship-shape in Bihar cricket. There is also the issue of selection.

The Bihar team for the Ranji Trophy was named just two days before the first match. There were no camps, understandably. The result was defeat by an innings and 51 runs.

"It is true that no camp was organised before the first match, but the team was selected with complete transparency," Singh said. "We had organised two camps earlier. Many players participated in the first one. We organised matches, from which we shortlisted some players, and then we saw those players in the second camp. After that the players had to go through a trial, and then we selected the best team.

"Sakib [Hussain, who was signed by Kolkata Knight Riders in the latest IPL auction] or Yashasvi [Rishabh, the top-order batter] are all playing in some team or the other, and when we feel the time is right, they will be selected in the Ranji team as well."

But, if the father of an active Bihar player is to be believed, it's not all so clean. He told us, on condition of anonymity, that his son was asked to buy his spot in the team, and when he refused, he was left out. The gentleman had also sent information in some detail to the BCA via an email, which ESPNcricinfo has seen, in November 2022. It was sent to the then secretary Amit Kumar, who was suspended around a year ago by BCA president Rakesh Tiwari for alleged illegal activities - Kumar took the matter to the courts and the matter is still pending. Kumar isn't around anymore, strictly speaking, but was responsible for the second team being named for the Mumbai game.

We asked Sunil Singh about the allegation, and he pooh-poohed it. "Why should I answer that," he said. "People come and say all sorts of things, they have their agendas. I have nothing to say to such rubbish."

But this isn't the first time such an allegation has come to light.

"Bihar cricket can benefit only when the politics going on inside BCA are completely removed," Zishan-ul-Yaquin, a former Bihar coach and chairman of the senior selection committee, said. "It [money paid to get selected] cannot be ruled out because many players had complained about this to me too when I was the head coach [in 2021-22].

"There is no doubt that there are many talented cricketers in Bihar, and there seems to be a lack of transparency in selection when it comes to these players. They are not getting enough opportunities."

That's not all. Bihar hasn't been a force in domestic cricket for years now, and infighting among factions within the administration has been a major reason for it - that's what led to two Ranji Trophy teams being named, for starters. Bihar isn't the greatest centre for cricket in India, but the team reached the final of the Ranji Trophy once, in the 1975-76 season, and has produced prominent players such as Shute Banerjee, Prakash Bhandari, Subroto Banerjee, Saba Karim and a certain MS Dhoni over the years. The present situation doesn't look ideal for more such cricketers to emerge from the region.