Bihar Cricket League Not Approved, Huge Scope For Match-Fixing, Says BCCI Official

The Bihar Cricket Association unveiled the Bihar Cricket League 2021 trophy on Tuesday. The T20 tournament, which will be played at the Urja Stadium in Patna from March 20-26, doesn't have the clearance of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). (More Cricket News)

The IPL-style BCL 2021 will be telecast live on the well-known Eurosport channel and will feature the state's cricketers. Kapil Dev, the 1983 World Cup-winning captain, will be part of the tournament, claimed the organisers.

There will be five franchises -- Angika Avengers, Bhagalpur Bulls, Darbhanga Diamonds, Gaya Gladiators and Patna Pilots. The team owners are largely unknown and have various business stakes in the state.

Five former internationals -- Sanath Jayasuriya, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Danny Morrision, RP Singh and Venkatesh Prasad -- will be associated with the teams as icons.

"The BCCI has not given any permission to stage this league," said a top Board official on condition of anonymity, adding: "How the Bihar Cricket Association has gone ahead with this competition is quite surprising."

The organisers claim that the tournament has the blessings of senior bureaucrats and politicians, including the chief minister.

The BCA has joined hands with Elite Sports to stage BCL 2021. On February 28, 100 cricketers were 'bought' by the franchises.

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A senior Eurosport official confirmed that BCL will be shown live. "We are just broadcasting partners, the production will be done by another party," he said.

The Eurosport official said that its contract was with the BCA and "scope was limited to just broadcasting the event and nothing more."

The BCCI official is wary that any event that is live on TV is always vulnerable to match-fixing.

"One can't rule out corruption. There is always a huge scope for this, especially when unknown stakeholders are involved.

"The current BCCI officials have stopped such leagues in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu because it is not possible for the Board to monitor match-fixing in domestic tournaments," the official said.

It is not clear how the BCL 2021 organisers will track corruption. BCA officials could not be reached for comments despite repeated attempts.

The IPL has a full-fledged Anti Corruption Unit and in UAE last year, was assisted by two international agencies that specialises in tracking betting trends worldwide.

The Bihar Cricket Association has always been in the news for the wrong reasons. Apart from infighting, BCA has been shamed by incidents of age-fraud, player violence and multiple teams.

Meanwhile, a rival faction has claimed that the previous BCA regime had approved a similar six-team T20 tournament that is scheduled to start on June 9. This faction will now be approaching the Patna High Court for a stay on BCL 2021.

Typically Bihar!