BCCI Bans Services From Ranji Trophy

New Delhi: Services were banned from this year's Ranji Trophy cricket season for skipping a match against Jammu and Kashmir in Srinagar.

Services forfeited the Plate Division match at the Sher-E-Kashmir stadium, hosting a Ranji game after a gap of five years, leaving the J&K Cricket Association chief Farooq Abdullah livid.

Abdullah threatened to take up the matter with the Prime Minister and the Home Minister, saying Services had negated the government of India's positive assessment of the state's security situation.

Aware of the sensitivity of the matter, the BCCI promptly disqualified Services from this year's Ranji Trophy and said further action would be decided at its next working committee meeting.

"The Services Sports Control Board (SSCB) cricket team was scheduled to play a Ranji Trophy game against Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA) at Srinagar from November 3 to November 6 2009.

"However, the SSCB forfeited the match, having expressed its inability to send its cricket team to Srinagar. The SSCB has therefore 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," BCCI secretary N Srinivasan said in a statement.

"A decision on any further action against the SSCB will be taken by the BCCI's Working Committee," the BCCI statement read.

Jammu and Kashmir players, officials and Abdullah were at the ground for the match but the Services team was nowhere to be seen. The forfeiture gave J&K four points and they will now take on Haryana at the same venue from November 10 to 13.

Angry at the no show, Abdullah, who is also Union Minister for new and renewable energy, lambasted the Services team.

"Services have negated what the Prime Minister, the Defence Minister and the Home Minister have said, that Kashmir is normal. We have also had ambassadors coming here. This shows that some vested interests don't want Kashmir to normalise," Abdullah fumed.

The JKCA had been in the news just a few weeks ago when an under-22 player Pervez Rasool was detained in Bangalore Chinnaswamy stadium after bomb detectors allegedly pointed towards his kit bag.

He was released after being questioned by the police and JKCA had sought an apology from the Karnataka State Cricket Association for the incident.