PICTURE SPEAK

DEFENSIVE: Karim (left) at his academy awaits a decision

In Patna, a scramble for the spoils broke out as three rival associations sought recognition from the BCCI. It has been nearly four years and the BCCI has not been able to make its pick. "There is no life in our cricket now," says Keshav Kumar, a 17-year-old all-rounder good enough to play for East Zone in the zonal national under-19s. Kumar, from Patna, is actually one of the lucky ones. He plays within the system as he is registered in Jharkhand and plays at its ODI centre, Tatanagar's Keenan Stadium.

After three seasons of bickering, the rival groups-the Bihar Cricket Association (Patna) headed by Lalu Prasad, the Association of Bihar Cricket under former India player and ex-MP Kirti Azad, the Cricket Association of Bihar and the latest spokesman for the game in the state, the Bihar Players Association-have abandoned their confrontational stance and filed a united writ petition in the Patna High Court to demand recognition from the BCCI. Almost in tacit recognition of the ground reality, Lalu's son Tej Pratap has quit his home state to play junior cricket for Delhi.

For other junior players the road is not quite so smooth. Their only route is through a trial in Jharkhand, a 12-hour train ride away. The cricketers share rooms and cheap meals in beaten down hotels in order to get a trial.

For teams of every age-group-under-15, under-17, under-19 and seniors-there are on an average between 300 and 400 cricketers who show up wanting to seal the 15-20 spots available. Naturally, cricketers born and bred in Jharkhand are given preference. For the cricketer from Bihar, the state with no vote in the BCCI, there is little chance. Every year in Patna, 50-60 young cricketers, as talented as their peers elsewhere, slipped through the cracks. All because the BCCI has not made up its mind.

Former India wicketkeeper Saba Karim, one of Patna's home-grown cricketers, has established the Cricket Academy of Bihar in his home town. He has watched the mood in Patna sink with every passing year. "I've noticed some very talented junior boys but they have no tournament to play in. It is becoming very difficult to face the boys or their parents and tell them that things will be different."

As per a bcci constitutional amendment of 2005, Bihar has now been given associate membership, which means it can field junior teams in zonal competitions. But the BCCI, even in its radical new avatar, remains indecisive as to who should run it. "Why can't the BCCI be more proactive?" says Karim, "Give affiliation to anyone, just give the boys a chance to play cricket." Kumar adds, "When we started out as under-15s we thought we might have a future in cricket. Now the kids starting out have nothing to play for."