Odisha has two produced two Test cricketers so far and both _ Debasis Mohanty and Shiv Sundar Das _ belong to Bhubaneswar. The Capital City also has scores of First-Class, India A and Junior International cricketers in its rank.

But in recent years, the standard of the sport has gone down noticeably due to alleged nasty politics in Bhubaneswar Athletics Association (BAA), the apex governing body for all sports disciplines in the State Capital.

With an objective to arrest the declining standard and bolster the cricketing eco-system in Bhubaneswar, a new governing body has been formed by former players recently. Registered as Bhubaneswar Cricket Association (BCA), the new district body has already submitted documents at Odisha Cricket Association (OCA), seeking recognition and affiliation of the State body.

In a press conference today, BCA revealed the circumstances under which it became necessary to form the new body as well as its plans for transparent and accountable governance of cricket in Bhubaneswar.

“BCA has been formed in accordance with the recommendations of Lodha Committee. As per the recommendations, cricket bodies should be run by former cricketers. Being the governing body for all sports disciplines, BAA is doing justice to none. Cricket has been biggest victim in Bhubaneswar. What the City needs is a separate body for cricket,” said BCA president Mihir Mohanty.

“Bhubaneswar has a rich cricket culture, but now it is in doldrums. BCA has been formed to revive that glorious culture and take it to a new height,’’ added Mohanty, also a former Mayor of the Temple City.

BCA patron Pratap Jena alleged that BAA was doing nothing for cricket despited receiving huge sums from OCA as grants. “Cricket clubs do all the hard work to groom young talents, but BAA sends the teams to state tournaments by organising just selection trials. Due to nepotism and favourtism of BAA office-bearers, deserving players do not get selected in Bhubaneswar teams,’’ said Jena, who is also the president of leading cricket club, Paramount Sporting.

“I thank OCA secretary Sanjay Behera for introducing leaderboard system to assess the performance details of players and select them for district and state teams on the basis of marit. But in case of Bhubaneswar, the leaderboard criteria is not being taken into consideration,’’ he alleged.

Citing an example, Jena said that Aniket Tripathy was not selected for the State U-19 team despite securing a prominent place in the leaderboard. Heartbroken, Aniket gave up cricket and joined IIT.

“There are many Anikets, who work hard throughout the year and even skip school and college exams to play matches for respective clubs. But their dreams are being ruined by the BAA office-bearers,” lamented Jena.

Accrding to BCA secretary Bijay Kumar Ray, BAA has planned various steps for the holistic development of cricket in Bhubaneswar. “We are coordinating with all the cricket clubs to help them improve their facilities and organise tournaments. The aim is to provide round-the-year practice facilities to young talents,’’ said Ray, a former state cricketers.

“We will coordinate with OCA, State Government, PSUs, Corporate units and Universities and seek their support for the raalisation of the goals. The functioning of BAA will always be democratic, transparent and accountable,” added Ray.
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PHOTO: Office-bearers of BCA brief about the formation of the new cricket body and its action plans during a press conference in Bhubaneswar on 18 May 2022.