Jamshedpur, Nov. 2: After goofing up with the coach?s appointment, the Jharkhand State Cricket Association (JSCA) seemed to have repeated its act by naming a new Ranji captain for the coming season.

The body named Rajiv Kumar as the new captain just three weeks before the team takes on Jammu and Kashmir in their opening Ranji tie. Patna-based Kumar, a former Bihar captain and one of team?s mainstay, replaced Chandra Mohan Jha.

The JSCA had earlier declared Mahendra Singh Dhoni as the captain for the 2005-06 season but announced Jha?s name in the wake of Dhoni?s commitment with Team India. Jha, a middle-order batman was also being groomed for the captaincy.

The JSCA?s secretary had said the same when Randhir Singh was named Ranji coach last month. Randhir, a former international, was asked to coach the Jharkhand senior squad after V. Venkat Ram refused the offer. The goof-up on coach?s appointment was not taken well by some senior Ranji players.

?Other cricket associations have named their Ranji coaches well in advance but its not the case here. Flipping coaches will affect the performance of the team as a coach needs sufficient time to cuddle his resources,? a leading batsman said. Cricket watchers said: ?A lot has taken place after Randhir last coached the squad three years back. He does not have much time at his disposal.?

Forty eight-year-old Randhir admitted that it would be a challenge for him to do the job to perfection. ?I would have preferred more time to work with the boys. I would be depending more on my experience as I have led the state Ranji squad on more then three occassions. But I certainly have a tough job,? he added.

Meanwhile, sources close to Jha, employed with the Railways in Dhanbad, said: ?He is upset because he was looking forward to lead the side after being an irregular fixture in the team for quite some time now. He was also being groomed to take up the challenge at the helm. Moreover, it was a life-time opportunity for him.?

On the other hand, JSCA A division league match between L Town Cricket Club and Young Boys Club at Armoury ground today was marked with unruly scenes when youths uprooted stumps while protesting anomalies in Ranji team selection. About six youths, armed with hockey sticks, barged into the ground and disrupted the proceedings by uprooting stumps and abusing umpires and players. Sensing trouble, the umpires cancelled the match and will report to the JSCA tournament sub-committee.