Cricket Association of Uttarakhand shoots out letter to BCCI regarding Ranji status

The Cricket Association of Uttarakhand has shot out a letter to the BCCI regarding the participation of Uttarakhand in the Ranji Trophy.

The Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators had earlier this month formed a consensus committee and announced that next season, Uttarakhand will have a side in the Ranji Trophy.

The BCCI Special General Meeting, however, decided to put a hold on the decision.

The Cricket Association of Uttarakhand, one of the claimant associations from the State of Uttarakhand, shot out a letter to the CoA and BCCI today.

An official of the Cricket Association of Uttarakhand told Sportskeeda that the letter was sent after the AGM decided to put a hold on the decision for Uttarakhand to field a team in the Ranji Trophy.

Here is what the Association wrote in the mail:

At the very outset the undersigned wants to express gratitude for your initiative and team effort for granting affiliation to Uttarakhand and bringing all associations together on one platform

Sir, today in the morning it was disheartening to know that meet is against the participation of Uttarakhand in Ranji Trophy. Sir, I would like

to highlight the undermentioned details, with an objective to press the claim of Uttarakhand's participation in Ranji Trophy in the current year

1. Out of the 13 districts in Uttarakhand there are two main districts Dehradun & Nainital which are a hub of cricketing activities in the state like any other state

The Leagues are conducted in these districts which has the participation of players from all 13 districts since more than five decades.

2. The All India Tournament in these places are conducted yearly which witnesses the participation of approximately more than 80 Ranji Trophy Players each year

Two Teams of Uttarakhand based on the performance of District League participate in the same tournament and performance of the players is really creditable

Sir, players like MS Dhoni, Praveen Kumar, Piyush Chawla, Kuldeep Yadav, Gyanendra Pandey, Amit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Virendra Sehwag, Noel David, David Johnson, Saurabh Tiwari, Rishabh Pant, Sarandeep Singh, Vikram Rathore, MSK Prasad, Vijay Yadav etc have all played here. Uttarakhand has developed players over the years based on the intensive cricket which takes place in the state.

3. In the past, players of the state had no option but to move out of the state to play age level and Ranji Trophy from other states that were affiliated to BCCI namely Rishabh Pant, Pawan Suyal, Saurabh Rawat, Kunal Chandela (Delhi Ranji Trophy), Abhimanyu Easwaran (India A & West Bengal Ranji team), Priyanshu Khanduri (Himachal), Aryan Sharma (UP U-19 Captian), Anuj Rawat, present U-19 India captain (Four Day Side), Aryan Juyal (Present U-19 India Captain one day side), Kamlesh Nagarkoti (U-19 India world cup), Arya Sethi (U-19 UP). Besides women players Ekta Bist, Mansi Joshi, Sneha Rana etc from Uttarakhand have also represented India

4. Uttarakhand boasts of three international stature grounds of which two are situated in Dehradun and one is situated in Haldwani besides many grounds which can host domestic matches.

5. In the past Uttarakhand has hosted Rani Jhansi Trophy in the year 1975, in which it would be pertinent to point out Madam Diana Edulji, who is now a part of COA, also participated. Uttarakhand also hosted in the year 2007 match between Railways Women's Team & UP Women's Team which is played in 2 days & 1 day format with the rest day in between. The Railways Women Team consisted of more than 8 India current Players including captian Mithali Raj. Uttarakhand also hosted CK Nayudu, Vijay Merchant Trophy and Central Zone Women's U-19 tournament successfully in the past besides Red Bull World Campus Cricket championship in which eight nations participated

Sir, the objective of highlighting the above details is just to bring to your knowledge that Uttarakhand has adequate facilities and enough talent to participate in the Ranji Trophy Championship.

The AGM participants of BCCI in our opinion were probably not aware of what has been reiterated in this mail.

Sir, players of this state have already suffered immensely for want of affiliation during the last 18 years owing to various reasons which you are well aware of.

Sir, your intervention to enable Uttarakhand to play at all levels including Ranji Trophy would be highly appreciated