Shillong, Jul 27: A cricketer from South West Khasi Hills has alleged that cricketers from outside the state bribe their way into the Meghalaya team, with the going price being Rs 5-6 lakh.
Devin Lyngdoh made this claims at a press conference here last week without providing any evidence other than his own testimony. However, these potentially damaging accusations were almost immediately shot down by the player’s own district association, which said that Devin had performed well enough at the district level for his name to be recommended for state selection trial matches for the 2025-26 domestic season but he didn’t make it into the 32-member shortlist chosen by selectors based on performance alone.
The SWKH District Cricket Association said that the Meghalaya Cricket Association is transparent in the way it selects players and many from the district have represented the state in women’s and age-group tournaments.
Controversy regarding selection is nothing new in cricket and is a regular subject at the domestic level, not just in Meghalaya and the North East but the whole country, as players vie for very financially lucrative places in state teams, where salaries are set by and paid for by the BCCI, the richest sports association in India.
Last year the matter blew up in Meghalaya after a pressure group questioned the eligibility of several non-tribal players, which prompted the MCA to form a committee to review the case of these players as well as suggest concrete measures for future team selection.
The players were deemed eligible “as per the guidelines set by the BCCI, eligible to play in the district level and based on performance qualifying to appear for final selection of the Meghalaya CA for representing the state at the BCCI level,” the committee reported. They fulfilled all the criteria as per BCCI norms, which clearly state, “A player can represent any state association on the basis of birth/education/work/
Devin said that many Khasi players are talented but do not get selected by the MCA for its team as selectors favour non-tribals. He alleged that cricketers from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar arrange their paperwork in order to show that they are eligible to play for Meghalaya.
Even certain non-tribals have in the past expressed frustration, though not quite so openly, to TSR that players from outside Meghalaya can play for the state, leaving those born and brought up in Meghalaya on the sidelines.
These players don’t even do that well for the state, Devin added, but the MCA has retained faith in the same batch for 2025-26, with only one or two new faces in the shortlist.
In the MCA senior men’s team shortlist, six players have Khasi surnames and another six Garo surnames. The remaining 20 players are from other communities.
Cricket remains largely dominated by non-tribals in Meghalaya at virtually all levels. The MCA and state associations have been working hard to popularise the sport among the indigenous communities at the grassroots, through academies and youth tournaments, but this has had only some success so far.
