After Srinivasan’s intervention,Himachal-Goa match resumes

The Ranji Trophy Group C match between Himachal Pradesh and Goa was cancelled but later resumed after BCCI president N Srinivasan intervened to sort out a political tug-of-war. The match was initially cancelled after the Congress-led state government took charge of the Cricket Association,which was controlled by opposition BJP MP Anurag Thakur,in a midnight coup.

The match started after state government ministers spoke to Srinivasan,who assured them of full cooperation in the matches at the venue. Himachal ministers GS Bali and Sudhir Sharma said: “BCCI president Sirinivasan had a telephonic talk with us and after listening to a briefing of the situation assured us of his co-operation for the conduct of board matches fixed for Dharamsala. This ground is now open to cricket,and all the scheduled matches including IPL shall continue as per timetable.”

Earlier,the Kangra district administration took over the HPCA stadium as well as ‘The Pavillion’ hotel. When contacted,Thakur said the cancellation of HPCA land leases would be challenged in court. District Sports Officer Mahender Pratap Bharadiya has been given charge of the stadium for the time being.

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The match finally began at 3 pm,and the hosts got off to a flying start. At close of play,HP were 136 for two in 27 overs with Paras Dogra (45 off 80 balls) and Abhinav Bali (43 off 41) at the crease.

Brief scores: Himachal Pradesh 136/2 in 27 overs (Paras Dogra 45*,Abhinav Bali 43*) vs Goa