Arunachal Pradesh cricket team
Arunachal Pradesh cricket team: Indian domestic cricket team
The Aruchanal Pradesh cricket team was formed in 2009. But for the first time, it was able to make its debut at top-level matches only in 2018. It represents the self-titled north-eastern state of India – Arunachal Pradesh. The club participates in 3 national cricket championships of the country: in the first-class Ranji Trophy, the one-day Vijay Hazare Trophy, and the short Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. In such a short time, the team could not show great results. The club doesn’t even have its own home stadium. Read our review article about a young and promising Indian cricket club.
Arunachal Pradesh cricket team – the birth of the Association
Arunachal Cricket Association is the governing body that deals with cricket issues in the state of Arunachal Pradesh since 2007. In 2008, the Association became a member of the National Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The headquarters of the local Association is located in the capital city of the state – Itanagar.
In the early years of its existence, the ACA faced financial problems. In addition, in 2010, the Association was accused of participating in corruption schemes when buying land. The BCCI could not make an official decision on the state of the team for a long time, and only in 2018, after long legal proceedings, the Board of Control for Cricket of India granted the ACA the status of a full member. By the way, a year later, the Association received an offer of bribery but successfully refused it.
Arunachal Pradesh cricket team – club history
After a local body appeared in the state, managing and being responsible for cricket, a sports club was formed. It was named after the state – Arunachal Pradesh cricket team. In 2009, having gathered young people, the team played its debut match at an amateur under-19 cricket tournament.
Unfortunately, the club remained in this status (amateur) until 2018. After the BCCI allowed to become a full member of the Council, the Arunachal Pradesh team took part in 3 professional tournaments:
- Ranji Trophy;
- Vijay Hazare Trophy;
- Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
The Ranji Trophy is a first-class domestic cricket championship. It was formed in 1934. To date, it is played by 38 professional teams. Among them is a team from Arunachal Pradesh. To be honest, the club has little experience, so the club shows weak results at the tournament:
- 2019 (Plate group) – 8th place and 9th;
- 2020 (Plate group) – the last 10th place;
- 2021 – canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Vijay Hazare Trophy – domestic championship of one-day matches. The tournament was formed in 1993 under the 1st name Ranji One Day Trophy. It was renamed to its current name in 2002. Here, the club’s results also look very modest:
- 2019 (Plate group) – 7th place out of 9;
- 2020 (Plate group) – 7th place out of 10;
- 2021 (Plate group) – 6th place out of 8.
Unlike the Ranji Trophy, one-day competitions were held during the pandemic, but with strict restrictions.
The Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy is a national tournament of the most popular format in cricket – Twenty20. The championship appeared in 2006. Arunachal Pradesh team started playing from the 10th SMAT T20 season:
- 2019 (Group D) – 7th place out of 8;
- 2020 (Group C) – last, 8th place;
- 2021 (Plate group) – 7th place out of 8.
Due to the pandemic, the matches of the last season were held in special, so-called biosecure bubbles (stadiums with a high level of security, without spectators).
According to our material, we can conclude that the club is still very young. We believe that only time and gaming experience will help the Arunachal Pradesh cricket team achieve the first significant results.
