Arunachal Pradesh’s domestic cricket campaign has suffered another setback. The team has lost its first match of Ranji Trophy Plate Group against Nagaland. This has happened due to the administrative impasse, which has left the Cricket Association with no working authority to handle team selection and other business. The match was to be held at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, coinciding with the start of the 2026–27 Ranji Trophy season. Earlier, Arunachal Pradesh had failed to field a team for the Vinoo Mankad Trophy match against Sikkim in Bhubaneswar earlier this week.
The matter has reached Guwahati High Court
The crisis stems from the Arunachal Cricket Association’s (ACA) legal battle over the September elections in which Nabam Vivek was elected president. Following this, several district associations challenged the elections, alleging irregularities and demanding fresh elections. The matter is pending before the Itanagar bench of the Gauhati High Court, which has reserved its order. The court proceedings have brought the functioning of the association to a complete standstill, making it difficult for the BCCI to intervene to put in place any alternative administrative arrangements during the pendency of the case.
BCCI secretary Devjit Saikia had earlier said that Arunachal Pradesh’s participation in junior domestic competitions has already been hampered due to the legal impasse, as team selection and preparation has become impossible in the absence of a functioning body for the state.
He had told, ‘There are two factions in the Arunachal Cricket Association, and a legal dispute is going on between them in the Itanagar bench of the Gauhati High Court. The High Court had ordered a stay on the functioning of the board a few months ago. That is why there are no office bearers in the Arunachal Cricket Association due to the matter before that Bench. The case was finally heard in the first week of September, but a decision is yet to come from the bench. There has been no board there for a long time, hence no preparations could be made to form a team for the Vinoo Mankad Trophy.
District bodies made allegations of violation of rules
Losing the Ranji Trophy match has increased the worries for the state senior men’s team and has proved to be a big blow for the team. If this vacuum in administrative work continues, then this controversy has also raised questions on Arunachal Pradesh’s participation in the remaining matches of the domestic season.
The September elections of the association were mired in controversy when six district bodies – Lower Siang, Upper Subansiri, Kamle, Tawang, West Siang and Papum Pare – alleged violation of rules during the election process. Due to their challenge, the court placed an interim stay on the functioning of the association, allowing competing groups to claim their legitimacy without any fixed administrative structure.