The BCCI has postponed the start of the Ranji Trophy from November 16 to January 5 in the domestic calendar. The move was made to ensure that all the teams have more time for the preparation. Some associations had put out a request for the same. Consequently, the BCCI has granted the request to reschedule it to a later date, and the tournament would now finish on March 20.
As per the revised domestic calendar, the two senior men’s white-ball competitions will start before the Ranji Trophy. The Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy will begin the men’s domestic season and will run from October 27 to November 22 and Vijay Trophy will run from December 1. The Women’s U-19 One-Day competition and the Vinoo Mankad Trophy will run between September 20 and October 18, followed by a four-team Challenger Trophy.
Ranji Trophy format
The format of the Ranji Trophy would also witness a significant change, after the revised schedule. The 38 teams would now be divided into five Elite and a Plate group. Each of the Elite group toppers will secure direct entry into the quarter-finals. The second-placed teams from each of the five Elite Groups and the topper of the Plate group will play three pre-quarter-finals to decide the other qualifiers.
Limited player staff allowed
In an email to the state associations, the BCCI has mentioned that each team can have a maximum of 30 members, comprising at least 20 players. And the number of support staff has been capped to 10. The teams have also been asked to appoint a physician, over and above the support staff for Covid-19 related emergencies.
“The pandemic has been tough on all of us, we have all had to make some hard decisions that have kept us from playing a full-fledged domestic cricket season in India. On behalf of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), we thank all our state associations, administrators, match officials, coaches, and athletes, for their patience and understanding,” said BCCI secretary Jay Shah reported Cricbuzz.
Revised Domestic calendar
1. Women’s Under 19 (One-Day): September 20 – October 18
2 Vinoo Mankad Trophy: September 20 – October 183. Men Challenger Trophy (U-19 ): October 26 – November 9
4. Women Challenger Trophy (U-19): October 25 – November 6
5. Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy: October 27 – November 22
6. Senior Women’s One-Day: October 20 – November 20
7. Men’s State A One-Day: November 9 – December 10
8. Vijay Hazare Trophy: December 1 – December 29
9. Senior Women’s Challenger Trophy: November 26 – December 8
10. Ranji Trophy: January 5 – March 20
11. Cooch Behar Trophy (Men’s U-19): November 21 to February 2
12. CK Nayudu (Men 4-day, U-25): January 6 – April 2
13. Senior Women’s T20: February 20 to March 23
14. Vijay Merchant Trophy (Men U-16 ): November-December