CUTTACK 04-Jan-2017
Odisha Cricket Association (OCA) president Ranjib Biswal and secretary Asirbad Behera today stepped down from their posts, complying the order of the Supreme Court and the recommendation of the Justice RM Lodha Committee. All other office bearers of the OCA also quit their posts.
Meanwhile, a committee is reported to have been formed for smooth conduct of the second One-Day International (ODI) match between India and England, scheduled to be played at the Barabati Stadium here on January 19. Cuttack-Barabati MLA Debashish Samantaray has been appointed as the chairman of the committee and he will be assisted by OCA CEO Bidyut Kumar Nayak.
``Respecting the Supreme Court ruling and Lodha Committee recommendations, I stepped down from the post. If MLA Debashish Samantaray wants, I will extend my support for the successful staging of the ODI,” said Ranjib Biswal, who held the post of the president for three terms.
``I have always been the chairman of the organising committees formed for ODI matches at Barabati Stadium since 2009. Hence this is not a new responsibility. The upcoming match would not be affected due to the decision of Behera and Biswal to step down from their posts as preparations for the match have been made four-five months ago,” said Debashish Samantaray, who is also the president of Football Association of Odisha (FAO).
``After getting the order of the Supreme Court by mail through BCCI CEO Rahul Johri on January 2, I held a meeting with all the 18 office-bearers of OCA today. We unanimously decided to hand over all the charges of the upcoming match to Debashish Samantaray, who is the chairman of the organising committee. However, as members of OCA we will fully support him in making the match successful,” said Asirbad Behera, who was occupying the post of honorary secretary since 2000.
The news of the stepping down of Biswal and Behera soon followed with speculations on who would be their successors. There were reports of a meticulously planned move to make Sanjay Behera and a Cuttack-based former cricketer as the new secretary and president respectively. Sanjay, who is the younger son of Asirbad Behera, is now functioning as the secretary of FAO.
