Goa fiasco adds to woes on Indian board's Plate

MUMBAI: The Board of Control for Cricket in India has a few problems on its Plate right now. The Board officials simply have no idea as to how many teams in the Plate Division of the Ranji Trophy are flouting rules the way Goa Cricket Association (GCA) did recently.
Last week, Goa Cricket Association (GCA) was guilty of playing four professionals in their playing XI in the Ranji tie against Kerala at Palakkad, as reported in ToI.That was against the rule of the board which allows only three professionals in the eleven and the BCCI, apparently, is miffed with the way Goa flouted the rule. "The senior tournament committee is looking into the matter. Action is definitely going to be taken at the earliest," BCCI's chief administrative officer Prof Ratnakar Shetty said, hinting at a fine and adding that points will be docked.
Regardless of the Board threatening strict action, it's learnt that Tripura and Assam, two other state teams in the Plate division, also flouted the rules in a similar manner. Tripura won their first match against Services, lost their second match to Assam and are now playing Vidarbha in an away game.
Nishit Shetty, a Mumbai veteran, and Jacob Martin, the former Baroda stalwart, both play for Tripura and Assam respectively, and are registered as professionals. However, the Board's problem at present is to look out for players who are from other states but have played club cricket for these states over the past couple of years and are now playing first-class cricket for these teams in the Ranji.
A leading domestic cricketer admitted to ToI that "it's not really easy to check these players' profiles because it's a well-done job with the right papers. There's a lot of ground work to be done if the culprits (read: outside players) have to be caught."
In the first round of the Plate division matches, J&K too were found guilty for the same reasons. For now, as Shetty explains, Goa after it was proved by the Kerala Cricket Association that they played four professionals, will be fined. "The Board secretary will take the final decision," says Shetty.
Nobody wants to play the Plate Division of the Ranji Trophy. For starters, there's less recognition, lesser sponsorships and most important of all, the national selectors hardly watch.