Arunachal Pradesh forfeited their opening match against Nagaland in the Ranji Trophy 2026-27 Plate Group after an administrative crisis within the Arunachal Cricket Association (ACA) left the state without a functioning governing body. The match was scheduled to begin on October 11 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
It came as India’s top domestic cricket tournament, the Ranji Trophy, got underway on Friday with 38 teams competing. The report said the team was prevented from finalising the preparations and playing the game from an ongoing legal battle related to the state association’s elections.
BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia stated that the Board of Control for Cricket in India could not interfere since the case was before the Gauhati High Court’s Itanagar bench.
BCCI Secretary Devajit Saikia Explains Why Arunachal Pradesh Forfeited Match Against Nagaland
The conflict erupted after the elections of the ACA in September with Nabam Vivek elected president. The elections were challenged by a number of district cricket associations in the Gauhati High Court demanding re-election citing irregularities.
The court directed stay of functioning of association and reserved its order after hearing. So, the state body was left without any settled administrative structure of forms of organisation of teams, training camps and such other things.
“There is a stay order from the court and the BCCI cannot step in. There is no one running the state body. Until the court gives the clearance, we cannot do anything,” Saikia told PTI.
The BCCI secretary’s statement highlights the legal limitations facing the national board. Unlike in Bihar, where the BCCI had appointed committees to oversee cricket operations, the pending court proceedings have prevented a similar intervention in Arunachal Pradesh.
Arunachal Pradesh’s Cricket Crisis Extends Beyond Ranji Trophy
The deadlock is also impacting age-group cricket in the state. Arunachal could not provide an Under-19 team against Sikkim in the Vinoo Mankad Trophy earlier this week in Bhubaneswar. It has been learnt that the age-group programme of the state’s junior women’s team has also been hit.
This setback will be in particular worrying for those players working hard to make a mark in the domestic game. In the absence of structured selection and coaching, cricketers are losing access to opportunities for match practice.
Arunachal Pradesh faced a tough season in the Ranji Trophy as they finished last in the Plate Group, losing all five matches. Nagaland, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, and Sikkim are also part of the group.
Meanwhile, with their first game of the season against Nagaland forfeited, the focus now shifts to whether the matter can be settled in time for Arunachal to make an appearance for the rest of the 2026-27 domestic season.
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Pragun is a passionate cricket follower and writer who deeply loves the game. Having completed his education with a degree in Journalism and Mass Communication, he has an experience of almost two years in diverse fields. He is known for his statistical and analytical articles. Pragun tries to bring life to his articles by adding a layer of enthusiasm from the perspective of a hardcore fan. Apart from writing cricket articles, he sometimes appears on YouTube videos on a friend’s podcast.
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