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The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has stepped in to help safeguard Arunachal Pradesh’s domestic cricket season after an ongoing dispute within the Arunachal Cricket Association (ACA) disrupted team selection and forced the state to miss important fixtures.
The board has constituted an independent three-member selection committee to select Arunachal Pradesh’s men’s and women’s teams across age groups, creating a route for the state to continue participating in the domestic season.
The intervention follows Arunachal Pradesh’s forfeiture of its opening Ranji Trophy fixture against Nagaland in Ahmedabad after the state association failed to field a team.
The state also missed the Vinoo Mankad Trophy and the Under-19 Women’s T20 Trophy as rival factions within the ACA remained involved in litigation before the Itanagar Bench of the Gauhati High Court.
The administrative impasse raised concerns about players losing valuable opportunities to compete, develop and progress through India’s domestic cricket system.
The BCCI has appointed apex council member M. Khairul Jamal Majumdar as convener of the arrangement.
The three-member selection committee comprises former Assam cricketers Satya Gopal Chakraborty, Jayanta Chowdhury and Deep Bora, with Chakraborty serving as chairman.
The panel has been tasked with conducting trials and selecting teams for four competitions:
Ranji Trophy
Col. C.K. Nayudu Trophy
Senior Women’s T20 Trophy
Vijay Merchant Trophy
The arrangement is intended to keep cricketing activities moving despite the continuing dispute within the state association.
BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia said the board’s priority was to ensure that players were not denied opportunities because of circumstances outside their control.
Saikia told The Times of India that the board had appointed an independent mechanism to keep the process on track. He also drew a comparison with a similar arrangement used in Bihar in the past.
The intervention reflects the importance of maintaining access to domestic competitions for players whose careers depend on regular match opportunities.
Following the BCCI’s intervention, Arunachal Pradesh was expected to play its next Ranji Trophy match against Sikkim in Nadiad from October 18, 2026, according to the report published on October 15.
The appointment of the selection panel offers a way forward for the state’s teams, although the broader association dispute remains a separate issue.
The immediate priority is to restore participation and ensure that players can compete while the legal and administrative matters continue through the appropriate process.
Source: The Times of India, October 15, 2026. This article is an independently written news summary based on the cited reporting.
