The BCCI president has played (and captained) a solitary Ranji match for Himachal Pradesh against Jammu and Kashmir.
Mumbai: The Chief Justice of India, Tirath Singh Thakur was not impressed with the CV of the Board of Control for Cricket (BCCI) president Anurag Thakur, which describes him as a cricketer.
“We are all cricketers here. Even I am the captain of the Supreme Court cricket team,” the CJI said when Kapil Sibal, the BCCI lawyer, said Anurag Thakur – the board president – is a former Ranji trophy player. The senior advocate and the ex-Union minister was replying to a question raised by the SC on BCCI officials’ qualifications to run the board.
Interestingly, the BCCI president has played (and captained) a solitary Ranji match for Himachal Pradesh against Jammu and Kashmir. In the only match, which they lost; Anurag Thakur was out for a duck.
The four day match was played in Jammu in November 2000.
-"We found him to be an average player but our team recognised him as the son of then the chief minister,-" Surendra Singh Bagal, the bowler of the opposite team, who got Thakur out, said from Jammu.
-"The whole team respected him as the minister's son and I was determined to take his wicket on my first ball and I did so,-" the left-arm medium pacer said.
-"He played six balls of the other bowlers and could not open his account. He misread my first ball of the over and gave an easy catch to the fielder,-" he added.
-"Anurag was not an outstanding player but he still took two wickets against us,-" revealed Bagal.
According to a report, Thakur played the Ranji match merely as a player and the team was led by Rajeev Nayyar.
However, Rajeev Nayyar, now the selector for the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) clarified, -"I was the captain in the earlier four-day match and had scored over 300 runs. I am not aware why I was sacked as the captain. Anurag Thakur was the captain in this (HP vs J&K) match.-"
By playing that one Ranji trophy match, Thakur qualified to become Indian junior selector, the rest is history.
