Guwahati/Calcutta: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Anurag Thakur has announced a slew of measures to develop the game in the Northeastern region. 

Thakur, who visited Dimapur and had a look at the facilities of Nagaland Cricket Association on Tuesday, said that a combined team involving affiliates of Northeastern states will be selected by the national selectors. The team will participate in all national level tournaments of the BCCI in all age-group formats.

The BCCI president also promised help in development of cricket grounds and indoor facilities in all the Northeastern states.

“The Board is committed for development of cricket in the Northeast states,” Thakur told the association officials during his visit.

The Supreme Court appointed Justice RM Lodha committee had also proposed measures for the development of the game in the region.

“The Zones would consist of Members in such a manner that each of them would be reasonably balanced as far as competition for the various zonal tournaments is concerned. However, this reconstitution is best left to the BCCI for the purposes of convenience and competition,” the Justice Lodha report said.

“It is also left to the discretion of the BCCI whether the Union Territories would field individual or combined teams for tournaments and whether, for the purposes of expediency and convenience, the teams representing the States of the North-East be combined as well.”

In April, the Northeastern state cricket associations welcomed the Lodha committee’s proposal of ‘one state one vote’ policy at a meeting in Dimapur.

The meeting had discussed the problems and challenges faced by the cricket associations and the roadmap for development of the game in the region. 

The meeting had also welcomed the observations of the Supreme Court regarding the difficulties of the Northeastern states.