BCCI to consider full membership issue of Manipur, Mizoram
The north-east may soon rub shoulders with others in domestic tourneys
New Delhi: There might be some good news in the anvil for the cricket lovers from India's north-eastern region as BCCI is planning to take up the full membership issue of Manipur and Mizoram in the upcoming BCCI Affiliation Sub-Committee meeting in Bengaluru on August 23.
It has been reliably learnt that BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur, who is also convenor of affiliation committee, has written a letter to its members Dr Sekhar Salkar of Goa and Prakash Dixit of Vidarbha to join him for a meeting in Bengaluru.
Apart from Manipur and Mizoram, the case of Chattisgarh will also come up for discussion.
Read: BCCI ad-hoc committee to visit Patna to inspect facilities
However Bihar has been kept out of the discussions as an ad-Hoc committee has been formed to look after the resumption of cricketing ties and also there is no clarity due to existence of multiple unsanctioned associations.
"Manipur has been an associate member and now they have appealed for full membership which will enable them to play in the Ranji Trophy. Mizoram also has said that they can develop good infrastructure. Chattisgarh already has a stadium where IPL and Champions League T20 matches have been played. The BCCI secretary has reviewed their applications," a source said.
Meanwhile, the BCCI's ad-hoc committee led by Niranjan Shah visited the Moinul Haq Stadium and then met the state sports secretary Vijay Kumar Singh to discuss about future course of action.
Read: BCCI secretary wants status report on Bihar cricket in three days
"A lot of work needs to be done in Moin-ul-Haq Stadium to make it playable. But for that we need the monsoon season to pass. Apart from that there is a Railway Stadium in Patna where we can have trials," a member asserted.
"We all discussed possibilities of conducting open trials in places like Gaya, Madhubani and Bhagalpur, where there are turf wickets available. The Principal Secretary in charge of sports Vijay Kumar Singh has said that he would extend all co-operation for BCCI," said the source.