For the first time since its inception in 1934-35, the Ranji Trophy — the premier First Class cricket tournament in India — is set to be suspended for a season, owing to the pandemic.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has informed its affiliates that the truncated season would comprise the Vijay Hazare Trophy, senior women’s one-day tournament and the Vinoo Mankad Trophy for under-19 boys.
Logistics
BCCI secretary Jay Shah, in a letter to State associations late on Friday, confirmed the BCCI would conduct only these three tournaments “on account of the precautions necessary for the safe conduct ofthe games”.
Shah said detailed itineraries for the tournaments would be announced soon.
Meanwhile, the decision to skip theRanji Trophy would be a severe jolt to a majority of senior domestic cricketers.
This would mean the selectors’ options would be limited while picking the squad for the India and India-A tours of England later this year.
Besides, hundreds of cricketers and match officials will take a severe financial hit dueto a severely truncated domestic season.
Compensation
While the BCCI AGM in December last year had in principle passed a financial package to compensate the fraternity, the details are yet to be circulated.
However, cricketers and State associations The Hindureached out to preferred to look at the “silver lining”, saying “something is better than nothing”.
