The Saurashtra Cricket Association will conduct an investigation against its U23 cricketers for carrying liquor, according to PTI. Gujarat is a dry state and sale of liquor is not allowed. The state government allows tourists to purchase liquor from some of its selected outlets. The SCA decided to take the step after liquor bottles were recovered from its under-23 cricketers.
The huge quantity of liquor bottles of the Saurashtra U23 cricketers were recovered from the cargo area of the plane in which the cricketers were kept. The incident occurred on January 25, when the cricketers were returning from Chandigarh to Rajkot after their victory over Chandigarh in the CK Nayudu Trophy. The liquor was seized by the airport authorities of the Chandigarh International Airport.
Saurashtra Cricket Association to conduct inquiry into under-23 cricketers
The Saurashtra Cricket Association said in a statement: “There has been an alleged incident in Chandigarh which has been reported to the Saurashtra Cricket Association. The alleged incident is unfortunate and intolerable. “The Ethics/Disciplinary Committee and Apex Council of the Saurashtra Cricket Association will further examine the incident and take appropriate disciplinary action.”
It has been reported that a total of 27 bottles of liquor and 2 cartons of beer were found from the five Saurashtra U23 cricketers. However, the police did not register any FIR in the matter.
Saurashtra has produced many great cricketers today such as Ravindra Jadeja, Cheteshwar Pujara and Jaydev Unadkat. Saurashtra are the reigning Ranji Trophy champions and defeated Bengal in the final of the previous edition of the biggest Indian first-class tournament.
However, Saurashtra have not been able to continue their consistent performances this season. Saurashtra is currently in 5th place in Elite Group A and has been able to win 1 out of four matches, while two ended in a draw.
In their recent match against Services, Saurashtra drew in Delhi. The first batsmen The services declared their first innings at 536/7. Shubham Rohilla was the Services’ leading run-scorer and played 153 innings of 223 runs. Lovekesh Bansal and Arjun Sharma also scored centuries and played innings of 161 and 101* runs.
Saurashtra also put up a decent batting performance and managed a total of 462 runs in their first innings. Vishvaraj Jadeja and Cheteshwar Pujara played innings of 88 and 91 runs respectively, while Arpit Vasavada also played 71 runs off 186 balls.
Cheteshwar Pujara is currently the second highest run-scorer of the tournament and has scored 535 runs in three innings. This includes a double century against Jharkhand, which ranked 17th overall for Pujara in his first-class career. Narayan Jagadeesan of Tamil Nadu tops the list of highest run-scorers and has scored 600 runs in four matches. His highest score has been 321.
Chirag Jani has taken the most wickets for Saurashtra in the current edition of the Ranji Trophy and has taken 14 wickets in 4 games. Pondicherry’s Gaurav Yadav is the leading wicket-taker in Ranji Trophy 2024 so far and has picked 31 wickets in four games.