Neelam Obi will captain Arunachal Pradesh in their next three Ranji Trophy matches after a BCCI-appointed selection panel named a 15-member squad, ending weeks of uncertainty that had already cost the state its season opener against Nagaland.
A New-Look Leadership Group
Kamsha Yangfo has been named vice-captain, while former Assam cricketer Sujay Tarafdar will take charge as head coach. Salil Malhotra, who played two first-class games for Delhi, has been included as the guest player. The panel also picked a 15-member Under-23 squad for Arunachal’s first three matches in the Col C K Nayudu Trophy, with Leki Tsering as captain and Techi Tado as the vice-captain.
Why the BCCI Had to Step In
The selections follow an administrative crisis in the Arunachal Cricket Association (ARCA), where a legal dispute between two factions before the Guwahati High Court’s Itanagar Bench left the state unable to field a side for its Plate Group opener against Nagaland in Ahmedabad. It was the first game to be forfeited in the Ranji Trophy in 17 years. The state also failed to field teams in the Vinoo Mankad Trophy and the Under-19 Women’s T20 Trophy — the forfeit was looming for days before it became official. BCCI Secretary Devajit Saikia told IANS that an independent selection committee of former Assam cricketers Satya Gopal Chakraborty, Jayanta Choudhury and Deep Borah, with Chakraborty as chairman, held trials at the Delhi Public School in Itanagar to select players across the Ranji Trophy, U-23 Col CK Nayudu Trophy, Senior Women’s T20 Trophy and Vijay Merchant Trophy, with BCCI Apex Council member M K Khairul Jamal Majumdar appointed as the convener of the trials and the selection process.
Players Can Finally Focus on Cricket
The BCCI intervened citing the interests of the players in the ongoing domestic season, after initially hesitating while the matter was before the court. With teams now in place, Arunachal Pradesh will hope to put the off-field uncertainty behind them and turn their attention to the rest of the domestic campaign — a chance for the state’s cricketers to reclaim a season that was nearly lost to the boardroom battle.
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