Arunachal Pradesh and the long game: Seven years on the margins of Indian domestic cricket

When the BCCI expanded its domestic structure in 2018, Arunachal Pradesh entered senior men's cricket for the first time, alongside other northeastern and newly affiliated states. That expansion brought nine new teams access to the Ranji Trophy, Vijay Hazare Trophy, and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Senior competition began in 2018-19, leading to seven years of a slow, hard grind.

The reality of red-ball cricket

Arunachal Pradesh entered the Ranji Trophy in 2018-19 without a strong cricketing culture. Their debut season was harsh, featuring heavy defeats and frequent innings losses. They struggled in their early seasons, going winless in 2018-19 and 2019-20.

Their breakthrough came in 2021-22 with a disciplined win over Bihar. Rajesh Bishnoi was the standout performer, earning Player of the Match for his 106 runs and 5/103. Nabam Abo took 6 wickets in the first innings and 3 in the second, playing a pivotal role.

Over the years, Techi Doria has been the team's best batter across formats, scoring 1000-plus First-Class runs. Ex-Haryana batter Rahul Dalal played for them between 2019 and 2023, scoring 1822 runs at an average of 70.07, including six hundreds, before moving to Meghalaya. Techi Neri has been the leading wicket-taker with 41 wickets in 26 Ranji matches.

Arunachal Pradesh are yet to reach the Ranji Trophy Elite League, while peers like Bihar, Meghalaya, and Uttarakhand have occasionally broken through.

Playing records for nine new teams in the Ranji Trophy

Arunachal's innings defeat by 551 runs against Goa and by 446 runs against Meghalaya rank among the biggest in Indian domestic cricket. They lost every match in the 2025-26 season by an innings. They have suffered innings defeats in 23 out of 36 losses, with five matches lost by more than 200 runs.

Their batting has frequently collapsed, with first-class totals often below 150. They've been bowled out below 100 runs 16 times. They've managed first-innings leads in only five out of 41 games. Their biggest total was 460 against Nagaland in 2020.

In bowling, they rarely bowl sides out cheaply, regularly conceding massive first-innings totals. Plate Group opponents like Meghalaya (628/6), Sikkim (514/7), Manipur (505/3), and Bihar (542/9) have piled on big scores. Out of 57 innings, they have bowled out the opposition only 27 times.

Teams with the highest losing percentage in FC cricket (40+ matches)

Arunachal Pradesh's lone Ranji Trophy win gave the team belief, but the following four seasons were brutal. They lost all 21 matches after that, including every game in 2025-26 by an innings. Overall, they have won just 1 of 41 first-class matches.

White-ball game and the quiet progress

While red-ball cricket highlighted struggles, white-ball formats offered early hope, especially the 50-over Vijay Hazare Trophy. Their only win against a pre-2018 Ranji side came in 2023/24 when they beat Assam by 22 runs. In their debut Vijay Hazare campaign (2018-19), they beat Mizoram and finished with two wins.

Batters like Samarth Seth (345 runs at 49.28) and bowlers such as Sandeep Kumar Thakur provided early belief. But results remained scarce. After two early wins, they managed just four victories in the next seven Vijay Hazare editions. Their 12% win rate is the third lowest globally this century among teams with 30-plus List A matches.

In the Vijay Hazare Trophy, two of Arunachal's defeats—by 435 runs vs Tamil Nadu and by 397 runs vs Bihar—are among the largest margin defeats in List A cricket. Arunachal also hold the ignominy of conceding 500+ totals twice in List A cricket, a feat no other domestic team has achieved.

Numbers for all ten new teams in List A cricket

Arunachal Pradesh have often posted below-par totals. They were bowled out for 61 against Meghalaya, 63 vs HP, 83 vs Bihar, and 95 vs Puducherry. They have been bowled out for sub-150 totals a record 18 times in the Vijay Hazare Trophy since 2018. They've bowled teams out in List A cricket in only 4 out of 48 completed innings.

Playing records for nine new teams in the Vijay Hazare Trophy

Arunachal showed brief competitiveness in the 2025-26 Vijay Hazare Trophy with a lone win over Mizoram, but a net run rate of -2.646 highlighted the gap to stronger Plate teams. Only Sikkim (89%) and Mizoram (87.2%) have worse List A loss rates than Arunachal Pradesh (82%).

Lost in the fast-growing format

Playing records for nine new teams in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy

Arunachal Pradesh began their Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy journey in 2018-19, securing a win in their debut season. However, that remains their only T20 victory across eight editions and 50 matches. In the 2025 Plate SMAT, they lost all five matches, posted mostly sub-130 totals, and finished with the group's worst net run rate (-4.240).

Numbers for all ten new teams in T20 cricket

Arunachal are on a 44-match losing streak in T20s—the longest winless streak in T20 cricket. Their lone win in 50 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy matches is the fewest by any domestic T20 side with 30-plus games, giving them the lowest win rate (2.0%).

Teams with the highest losing percentage in T20 cricket (40+ matches)

Living with records – for the wrong reasons

• Arunachal Pradesh lost all five of their games by an innings margin in the 2025-26 Ranji season.
• Bihar's 574/6 against Arunachal in the 2025-26 Vijay Hazare Trophy is the highest team score ever recorded in List A history. Bihar's 38 sixes in that match also set a new List-A record.
• The 397-run victory margin for Bihar in that game is the second-largest in List-A history. Arunachal also holds the record for the largest defeat, losing by 435 runs to Tamil Nadu in 2022.
• In that match against Bihar, Sakibul Gani scored the fastest century by an Indian and the third-fastest overall in List-A history, reaching three figures in 32 balls.
• Tamil Nadu batter N Jagadeesan's 277 against Arunachal in the 2022-23 VHT is the highest individual score in all men's List A cricket. Jagadeesan and B Sai Sudharsan's 416-run opening stand in the same match is the first 400-plus partnership for any wicket in men's List A cricket.
• There have been 12 triple hundreds scored in the Ranji Trophy since the 2018-19 season, and four of them have come against Arunachal Pradesh—the most conceded by any team in this period.
• In the 2024-25 Ranji season, Goa defeated Arunachal Pradesh by an innings and 551 runs—the biggest innings victory in Ranji history and seventh-largest in first-class cricket. Goa scored 727/2 declared. Snehal Kauthankar (314) and Kashyap Bakle (300) set a record 606-run partnership, the second-highest in first-class cricket.
• In a 2025 Ranji Trophy Plate match, Meghalaya's Akash Kumar Choudhary hit eight consecutive sixes against Arunachal and registered the fastest fifty (11 balls) in First-Class cricket history.
• Railways' Ashutosh Sharma smashed a 50 off 11 balls against Arunachal Pradesh in the 2023 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, breaking Yuvraj Singh's record for the fastest T20 fifty by an Indian.
• Arunachal Pradesh were bowled out for 32 runs in just 9.1 overs by Jammu & Kashmir in the 2024 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, the second-lowest total in tournament history.
• Arunachal's Mibom Mosu conceded 116 runs in nine overs against Bihar, the second-most in a men's List A match.

Arunachal Pradesh has faced heavy defeats, but its focus is on the long game. Domestic cricket for them is about existence and growth, not instant success. Season after season, far from India's cricketing hubs, they take the field confronting the country's toughest challenge despite the scoreboard rarely favouring them.