Shah, Pandove to head ad-hoc panels for Bihar and Uttarakhand (Third Lead)

Mumbai/Kolkata, Aug 7 - Board of Control for Cricket in India;s (BCCI) former secretary Niranjan Shah will chair a five-member ad-hoc committee for administration of the sport's activities in Bihar.

BCCI treasurer and joint secretary M.P. Pandove will chair a similar panel that will look into the affairs of Uttarakhand.

Shah will be assisted by Goa Cricket Association secretary Vinod Phadke, Tripura Cricket Association secretary Sourav Dasgupta, Gujarat Cricket Association executive member Bharat Zaveri, and BCCI game co-ordinator Ratnakar Shetty.

Pandove will chair a five-man panel comprising Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association secretary Vishal Marwaha, Cricket Association of Bengal secretary Subir Ganguly, Maharashtra Cricket Association vice president Vinod Shah and BCCI manager for game development K.V.P. Rao.

BCCI is currently embroiled in a legal tangle with Bihar Cricket Association (BCA) over a Rs.10 lakh payment as remuneration to Justice Dharam Pal Sinha who has agreed to conduct BCA elections after a gap of seven years.

Cricket in Bihar has been in shambles due to the absence of a representative body with no first-class matches staged in the state for several years.

BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya in a statement said the game as also the players are suffering in both the states with no proper development being undertaken.

"In view of the factional disputes over the years, the game of cricket and the players are suffering in both Bihar and Uttarakhand and no proper development of the game are being undertaken.

"Therefore, in the larger interest of the game and the players it was felt necessary that BCCI should step in and undertake promotion of the game and protect the interest of the players by forming ad hoc committees," Dalmiya said in the statement from Kolkata.

BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur said the ad-hoc committees would function till the affiliation issues of the two units were resolved.

"Due to infighting among different associations present in these states, aspiring cricketers of these states have to suffer for no fault of theirs. To ensure that cricket grows in these states, the BCCI has decided to form ad-hoc committees for these states, which will function till the affiliation issues of these states are resolved," Thakur said in a release.

"This will ensure participation of budding cricketers from these states in the BCCI Associate and affiliate members tournament, this season onward."

Thakur said during his recent trip to Bihar, he received representations from at least 17 organisations to start cricket once again in Bihar.

"Similarly I've got representations of various organisations in Uttarakhand, who have lost on playing opportunity after bifurcation of Uttar Pradesh," he said.

(IANS)