The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) imposed a one-match suspension on Maharashtra batsman Ankit Bawne for dissenting against the on-field umpire’s decision in a Ranji Trophy match last year, due to which he could not play in the ongoing match against Baroda in Nashik. BCCI informed this decision to the Maharashtra team at the Golf Club ground in Nashik where it is playing a Group A Ranji match.
The incident took place at the MCA ground in November last year, where Bawne stood at his crease after being caught in the slips by Army’s Shubham Rohilla off the bowling of Amit Shukla. Bawne refused to leave the field for about 15 minutes as the decision could not be challenged due to the unavailability of DRS. The match restarted after the intervention of match referee Amit Sharma and Maharashtra coach Sulakshna Kulkarni.
“Maharashtra Cricket Association would like to officially inform that our Ranji Trophy player Ankit Bawne has been banned for one match by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and is serving the punishment,” the MCA said in a release on Thursday.
“As a result, Ankit Bawne is not available for selection in the ongoing Ranji Trophy match against Baroda. However, we are happy to confirm that he will be available for the next match and will contribute to the success of the Maharashtra team,” the release said. Will continue to give.”
According to the press release, “We respect the BCCI’s decisions and are committed to maintaining the principles of discipline and sportsmanship in the game of cricket. We look forward to Ankit’s participation in the upcoming match.”
Maharashtra captain Ruturaj Gaikwad, during India A tour of Australia, had posted pictures of his dismissal on his social media account, which shows that Bawne was not out and the decision was wrong.
Who is Ankit Bavane?
Middle-order batsman Ankit Bawne has been the pillar of Maharashtra’s middle order for more than a decade. He made his first-class debut in 2007. Ankit, who has performed brilliantly in the Indian domestic league for almost two centuries, has not yet been called for the national team. Ankit is one of those talented players in the Indian domestic circuit, who made his debut even before the age of 18. Bawne was barely 15 years old when he made his debut for Maharashtra against Karnataka.
It was a modest start for the right-handed batsman and he was one of Vinay Kumar’s hat-trick victims in the second innings. But since then he has progressed a lot and has been the leader of his team.
Ankit led Maharashtra to their first Ranji final since 1992 during the 2013–14 season, where they lost to Karnataka. During the 2016–17 Ranji season, Bawne was involved in a 594-run partnership with Swapnil Gugle, the second highest partnership for any wicket in first-class cricket. This right-handed batsman scored unbeaten 258 runs, which is the best score of his career in first-class cricket.
Bawne received a call-up from the Delhi Daredevils franchise during the 2017 IPL auction. Ankit played only one match of IPL in which he scored 12 runs. He made his debut against Kolkata. After this, he was also selected for the India ‘A’ team for the South Africa tour and the home series against New Zealand.
If we talk about Ankit’s record, he has scored 8241 runs in 194 innings of 122 first class matches at an average of 51.50. During this period he has scored 24 centuries and 42 half-centuries. If we talk about his List A record, he had scored 4650 runs in 126 matches at an average of 48.43. He has also scored 875 runs in 42 T20s.
(With inputs from IANS)
