Arunachal Pradesh forfeit Ranji Trophy Plate Group opener against Nagaland amid administrative crisis

Arunachal Pradesh forfeited their Ranji Trophy Plate Group opener against Nagaland, which was scheduled for October 11, 2026, at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. The forfeiture is a direct consequence of an ongoing administrative crisis within the Arunachal Cricket Association, where two warring factions have been locked in a dispute that has now reached the courts.

The crisis has already affected multiple age-group competitions. On October 10, 2026, Arunachal Pradesh failed to field their Under-19 team for a Vinoo Mankad Trophy match against Sikkim in Bhubaneswar. The state side has also forfeited their CK Nayudu Trophy opener against Meghalaya, which was scheduled for October 12, 2026.

The Plate Group in the 2025-27 Ranji Trophy season features six teams: Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Sikkim, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh. In the 2024-25 season, Arunachal Pradesh finished at the bottom of the Plate Group standings, losing all five of their matches.

What triggered the administrative crisis in the Arunachal Cricket Association?

The Arunachal Cricket Association held elections in September 2026, following which Nabam Vivek was elected as president. However, multiple district associations subsequently approached the Itanagar bench of the Gauhati High Court, alleging irregularities in the conduct of those polls.

The High Court has since reserved its order in the matter. With the case sub judice, the BCCI has been prevented from stepping in and constituting an independent selection panel, a measure the board had previously taken in the case of Bihar. As a result, there is effectively no functioning body to select or manage the Arunachal Pradesh cricket teams.

What has the BCCI said about its ability to intervene?

The court proceedings have placed the BCCI in a position where it cannot take administrative action on behalf of the state association. The board has acknowledged that the legal stay prevents it from appointing any interim structure to manage team affairs and that the situation will remain unresolved until the court delivers its order.

BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia addressed the matter directly.

"There is a stay order from the court and the BCCI cannot step in. There is no one running the state body. Until the court gives the clearance, we cannot do anything," Saikia had said as quoted by NDTV Sports.

The next procedural step depends entirely on when the Gauhati High Court delivers its reserved order in the case.