After nearly four decades of administrative tussle for recognition, Chandigarh finally received affiliation from the BCCI on Friday (July 27).

"Today, in the meeting of BCCI, the affiliation of Chandigarh has been approved. I got the message from BCCI that Chandigarh has been formally inducted as cricket playing state with the Board," Union Territory Cricket Association (UTCA) president Sanjay Tandon told reporters. 

The UTCA had made various attempts for affiliation since being registered in 1982. Hence, Tandon, without naming anyone, said there were some individuals in the BCCI who were major roadblocks to Chandigarh receiving affiliation in the past.

"I took over as president of UTCA in June 2016. I must say efforts of everyone paid dividends towards realising this dream," said Tandon, who is also president of the Bharatiya Janata Party's Chandigarh unit.

Cricketers from Chandigarh, the home town to two of country's greatest cricketers in Kapil Dev and Yuvraj Singh, were forced to play for Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and different states till now. But the Union Territory will soon field its own team in various domestic tournaments. 

"Today, the dream of a child who wanted to play from Chandigarh has been fulfilled. It's a historic day for the game of cricket in Chandigarh," Tandon added before giving away details of how the affiliation came about, especially mentioning the efforts of two-member committee of BCCI, consisting Anshuman Gaekwad and Saba Karim, who had visited the city earlier and met UTCA members with regard to recognition.

Actually, for a Union Territory to be recognised as a separate entity, Chandigarh Cricket Association-Punjab recently decided to merge with UTCA and earned BCCI affiliation. 

(Inputs from PTI)