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Arunachal forfeits Ranji opener as Nagaland heads home; doubts also linger over next fixture

The Ranji Trophy Plate Group fixture between Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland collapsed before a ball was bowled, as the Arunachal team forfeited the match amid a legal dispute paralyzing the Arunachal Cricket Association (ACA). The crisis stems from ongoing litigation over the validity of the ACA’s executive elections, with six district associations—Lower Siang, Upper Subansiri, Kamle, Tawang, West Siang, and Papum Pare—challenging the results in the Gauhati High Court’s Itanagar Bench.

The impasse has halted team selection and preparations, leaving Arunachal unable to field a side for Sunday’s scheduled game at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Nagaland, informed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) that the match would not proceed, opted to skip the trip entirely, marking the first Ranji Trophy forfeit in 17 years.

With no resolution in sight, doubts now hang over Arunachal’s ability to participate in its next fixture against Sikkim next week, as the BCCI remains unable to intervene without a court-appointed administrator to oversee operations.

The dispute has brought cricketing activities in Arunachal to a standstill, mirroring past BCCI interventions in states like Bihar, Rajasthan, and Jammu and Kashmir. BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia previously highlighted the legal stay order as the root cause, stating that internal factional conflicts had left the association incapable of functioning.

The absence of a functional governing body has left the state’s domestic season in limbo, raising questions about its long-term participation in the Ranji Trophy without immediate legal clarity.

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Arunachal Pradesh forfeit Ranji Trophy opener after state cricket body crisis