For the first time in 87 years, India’s domestic tournament known as “Ranji Trophy” has been cancelled. The The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Saturday announced that the Ranji Trophy, India’s premier first-class domestic competition, won’t be played this time around. The board has decided that they will be conducting the senior men’s, women’s and under-19 ODI tournaments in the truncated 2020-21 season. Owing to the raging COVID-19 pandemic, India’s domestic began as late as January 10 this year with the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (20-over tournament). Attributing the decision to loss of time, BCCI secretary Jay Shah announced three domestic tournaments in the forthcoming months.
“I am extremely happy to inform you that we are going to conduct the Senior Women’s One Day tournament simultaneously with the Vijay Hazare Trophy and follow it up with Vinoo Mankad Trophy Under-19. This has been decided after having received your feedback on the domestic season 2020-21″ he said. “As you are aware, we have lost a lot of time and consequently, it has been difficult to plan the cricket calendar on account of the precautions that are necessary for the safe conduct of the games,” Shah wrote in a letter to the state associations. Recent reports and rumours have suggested that the groupings and bio-secure bubbles for the Vijay Hazare Trophy will be the same as the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.Since the Ranji Trophy pays the highest match fees (INR 1.5 lakh per game approx) to the players, it is also understood – as was also discussed during the BCCI Annual General Meeting (AGM) earlier this month – that the parent body will compensate the domestic players for their apparent financial loss.
The letter further stated that the Vijay Hazare Trophy will take place before the 2021 edition of the Indian Premier League, and Jay Shah also hinted at hosting a few games before the auction, which is scheduled to take place on Feburary 18.The international cricket action is set to return to India on February 5 when the country hosts England for a four-match Test series, followed by 5 T20Is and 3 ODI