Arunachal Pradesh will miss its opening matches in both the Ranji Trophy Plate division and the CK Nayudu Trophy due to an unresolved administrative crisis surrounding the Arunachal Cricket Association (ARCA). The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) notified the Gujarat Cricket Association (GCA) that these fixtures would not proceed as planned. The impasse stems from a legal dispute concerning internal elections for the state association, a matter currently pending before the Gauhati High Court, which has already reserved its verdict.
The affected Ranji Trophy opener against Nagaland was scheduled to commence on Sunday, October 11, at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. GCA officials informed the visiting Nagaland squad on Saturday evening that the match was off, adding that information regarding subsequent fixtures would be provided later. A member of the Nagaland team noted that while they were officially notified the match would not take place, they received no further details. Ahmedabad has served as Arunachal Pradesh’s domestic home ground in recent years.
The disruption also impacts the CK Nayudu Trophy, where the team’s season opener against Meghalaya, originally set for October 12, will not be held. Additionally, the team’s first match against Manipur at the MCA Cricket Ground in Shillong and their second game against Nagaland at the Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium in Anand—scheduled for October 19—are caught in this scheduling uncertainty. As of now, Arunachal’s next confirmed Ranji Trophy fixture is slated against Sikkim in Nadiad on October 18.
This administrative deadlock has significantly disrupted local cricket operations. With no recognized body currently in place, the state has failed to select a team, and the preparatory training camps typically held in Ahmedabad did not occur this season. Arunachal Pradesh’s domestic performance has struggled historically; they dropped all five matches in the Plate division last year, and they have recorded only a single victory, against Bihar in 2022, across 41 appearances in the Ranji Trophy.
