The day before Meghalaya’s Ranji Trophy Plate Group encounter against Nagaland began like any other pre-match day. The team practised as usual and attended the pre-match meeting with the match referee. In the evening, they got a call from the match referee conveying the bad news that they are no longer the official team representing the state association.

“We all had gone for practice and during the pre-match meeting, the match referee (Arindam Sarkar) had told us, ‘You guys don’t worry. You will be playing as the Indian Cricket Board (BCCI) has accepted you guys’. In the evening we got a call from the match referee that you guys won’t be allowed now,” batting pillar Rahul Dalal narrates the ordeal.

The infighting between Meghalaya Cricket Association (MCA) president James Sangma and its Apex Council, which has been brewing for a few months, had taken another wicked turn.…