Ranji Trophy: Two J&K teams arrive to play against Himachal Pradesh

The J&K team defeated the Ranji giants Mumbai in the prelim rounds of Ranji Trophy 2014-15

Drama unfolded at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) as a separate team from Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) reached the venue in order to represent the state in the Ranji Trophy match between J&K and Himachal Pradesh.

The confusion prevailing over Jammu and Kashmir’s Ranji Trophy team refused to die down even as the second round of the domestic tournament began on Wednesday. Off-the-field antics overshadowed their skipper, Parvez Rasool’s unbeaten century, which pulled his team out of troubled waters against Himachal Pradesh on the opening day of their round two match.

The team that was playing inside the stadium was of the faction of Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA), led by state sports minister Iqbal Ansari, who was recently elected president.

Meanwhile, another team selected by the faction led by former chief minister Farooq Abdullah was the one that created the ruckus outside the stadium. Reports added that the Abdullah-led faction held a brief protest with team managers Rajiv Pandita and Rohit Malhotra accusing the HPCA of bias. They came prepared with copies of the court order claiming that not allowing them inside the venue was illegal.

Sanjay Sharma, HPCA spokesperson said that they have nothing to do with JKCA’s internal matters and the match observer recognised by the BCCI allowed the team to play.

In the end, the Ansari backed team was allowed to play and J&K reached 274 for the loss of eight wickets by stumps.

This has been an ongoing conundrum for the J&K Ranji team. Earlier in the Ranji Trophy match against Kerala, held at Srinagar on October 1, the warring factions had named two separate squads. Former Delhi player Mithun Manhas was named captain of one team, while the other one was led by Rasool. In the end, the problem was solved as the Manhas-led team took the field with Rasool as his deputy.

However, they re-surfaced for the second time during the Round Two. It is astoninshing that two teams could turn up to represent one team based on political affiliations. Recently, the Jammu and Kashmir Ranji team was in the news after their star player, Parvez Rasool became the first player from J&K to be selected for the national team.