Chandigarh, July 26:The city cricketers will now get an opportunity to play in the BCCI tournaments as the Indian Cricket Board has finally decided to grant the affiliation to the Sanjay Tandon-led UT Cricket Association (UTCA).
“We have been trying hard to get the affiliation…we are yet to receive the official communication, but it has been confirmed that we are now part of the BCCI,” a joyous Tandon said after a meeting at the Sector 16 Stadium here today.
The BCCI had earlier this month told Chandigarh Cricket Association (Punjab) and Chandigarh Cricket Association (Haryana) to merge into the UTCA and form a unified body to represent Chandigarh. While CCA (Punjab) agreed to the merger, their Haryana counterparts failed to reach any decision.
“It’s a great opportunity for the local cricketers as we will now be directly representing the city in the BCCI tournaments,” said Chandigarh-based cricketer Manan Vohra.
The Chandigarh cricketers were earlier forced to represent either Haryana or Punjab to be able to play at the national or international level.
“The city deserved this position. Seven of our players played at international level and there are many who played for Punjab and Haryana. Had the city got the affiliation earlier, our players could have scaled even greater heights. Nevertheless, we are happy to get the well deserved status,” said coach Harish Sharma, who was a part of today’s meeting.
Sources in the BCCI, meanwhile, confirmed that UTCA has been given the permission to head cricket operations in the city, but said the association could not have its team in this year’s Ranji Trophy.
“I cannot comment on this. I will have to check. The Ranji Trophy is scheduled to be held in November,” Tandon said when asked about Chandigarh’s participation in this year’s Ranji Trophy.
Can have own team
- Chandigarh cricketers, who were earlier forced to represent Punjab or Haryana to be able to play at the national or international level, can now directly represent the city.
- Chandigarh can now have its own team in the Ranji Trophy and other domestic tournaments organised by the BCCI.
