 The Services Ranji team has been chucked out of the Ranji trophy this year
for not turning up for their game against Jammu and Kashmir. The match was supposed
to be played in Srinagar, but the Services side did not turn up because of security
concerns. Ironically, the Services side is composed of the players from the defence
services in India, and they did not make it for the game. The team is controlled
by India's defence ministry.
The BCCI has also said that further action will taken against the team after
a decision is taken by their working committee.
It has also been said that the Services team then issued an apology, and said
that they were ready to play the game in Srinagar on any other day. However,
the BCCI is said to be adamant on the decision and have said that they will
not budge from their stand of having banned them from the tournament.
The secretary of the BCCI, N.Srinivasan said, "Action will be taken according
to our rules. The SSCB has been disqualified from participating in the 2009-10
edition of the Ranji Trophy, in accordance with the rules of the BCCI pertaining
to domestic tournaments. A decision on any further action against the SSCB will
be taken by the BCCI's Working Committee." Rajeev Shukla, another
BCCI official, said that they were speculating that the pull-out was due to
security reasons.
To add insult to their injury, the Services side will also not be considered
for any of the other tournaments like the Duleep or the Deodhar trophy,
which essentially have teams chosen from the performances in the Ranji trophy.
The players from Services will also not receive any match fee this year. They
were in the Plate Group of the tournament.
Not everyone is amused though. Farooq Abdullah, the president of the
Jammu & Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA), is fuming and said that when
everyone could come to Srinagar to play the games, why couldn't the Services
side. He has also said that he was planning to tell the Prime Minister and the
Defence Minister that this was a very upsetting precedent for the state, given
that they are doing their best to bring stability there.
The last international game that was played in the stadium in Srinagar was
in 1986 against West Indies. First class cricket has also not been played
since 2004, when JK had played Orissa then.
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