At the start of the month, a protest was made regarding the eligibility of several Senior Men’s and U-23 Men’s team players. As a result, the MCA took immediate action. It constituted a three-member committee comprising its vice-president Rayonald Kharkamni, and two apex council members – Arwotki Sumer and Sengnab Momin – to probe the matter.
After reviewing relevant documents – birth certificates, Aadhaar cards, voter identification, etc. – the committee has cleared eight players: Jaskirat Singh Sachdeva, Arpit Bhatewara (both Senior Men’s team), Rohit Kumar Yadav, Raghav Kumar Magotra, PM Santosh, Kevin Sanjeev Christopher, Abhishek Kumar, and Sachin Kumar (all U-23 Men’s team).
These eight are eligible “as per the guidelines set by the BCCI, eligible to play in the district level and based on performance qualifying to appear for final selection of the Meghalaya CA for representing the state at the BCCI level,” the committee report read. They fulfil all the criteria as per BCCI norms, which clearly state, “A player can represent any state association based on birth/education/work/residency/son or daughter of a central daughter employee deputed under any given state association during the period of holding office within the jurisdiction of the state on posting.”
However, two of the players – Sachin Kumar and Rohit Kumar Yadav – have received provisional clearance by the committee and need to submit their original school certificate and residential certificate for final clearance.
Meanwhile, the committee also decided that Banialam Mylliemngap, who was not included in the U-23 Men’s team, may be considered for selection once he recovers from injury and receives a fitness clearance from the team physiotherapist.
In addition, the committee has suggested that the MCA should advise all affiliated district associations to verify the documents of the players before submitting them to the MCA, as per BCCI guidelines.
The committee’s final recommendation is for one selector from the Senior Men Selection Committee to be present in person during home and away matches to consider the players’ performances during the remaining Ranji Trophy 2024-25 matches.
