Ranji Trophy to begin on 16 November as BCCI announces full-fledged domestic schedule

Jul 4, 2021 - 10:03

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New Delhi: The BCCI will conduct all its domestic tournaments across age-groups with the coveted Ranji Trophy, starting on 16 November, being the marquee event among the 2,127 matches scheduled for 2021-22 season.

Last season, the BCCI couldn't conduct any age-group tournament and was forced to cancel the Ranji Trophy due to COVID-19 pandemic.

However, a full-fledged domestic season will take place this year with Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 to begin from 20 October and the National One-Day Championship for Vijay Hazare Trophy being scheduled from 23 February next year.

"The season will commence on September 21, 2021, with the Senior Women's One Day League and will be followed by the Senior Women's One Day Challenger Trophy, which will take place from October 27, 2021," BCCI secretary Jay Shah said in a media release.

The final of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy will be played on 12 November this year.

The coveted Ranji Trophy will be played in a three-month window from 16 November, 2021 to 19 February, 2022.

The Vijay Hazare Trophy final will take place on 26 March, 2022.

"The BCCI is confident of hosting the domestic season with health and safety of players and all people involved being paramount," the statement further read.

The Ranji Trophy will be played with two Elite groups comprising nine teams each and the C group and Plate (North East Teams mainly) will have 10 teams each.

It is expected that the top five teams as per points from the Elite groups will make it to the quarter-finals while two from group C and topper of Plate group completing the last eight line-up.

In case of Vijay Hazare Trophy, the groupings will remain same while Mushtaq Ali T20 will have five groups with two groups of seven teams and three groups of eight teams each respectively.

The BCCI will conduct Vinoo Mankad Trophy (National U-19 One Day) and U-19 Challengers Trophy between September and November in order to select the white-ball probables for next year's ICC U-19 World Cup.

The three-day Cooch Behar Trophy will start only after the two tournaments are over.

"The core probables for India U-19s will be selected from Vinoo Mankad and subsequently from the Challengers Trophy. If there are any exceptional performers in Cooch Behar, they will be added later on," a BCCI source said.

The women's U-19 and boys' U-16 tournament (Vijay Merchant Trophy) will also be held this year along with the U-23 age group tournament.

No Irani Cup, Duleep or Deodhar Trophy

While a whopping 2,127 domestic games are being held, just like the 2019-20 edition, there will be no Irani Cup, Duleep Trophy (inter-zonal First-Class) or Deodhar Trophy (rechristened in Challenger Format) during this edition also. It is understood that Irani Cup and Duleep Trophy, which used to be selection audition for men's national team, has lost its relevance and hence it has been shelved for the time being.

There is also a proposal to increase the match fees of domestic cricketers but the quantum hasn't yet been decided. As of now, they get Rs 1.4 lakh per First-Class game and Rs 35,000 for List A and T20 games. This is for the first-team players while reserves get half the amount. It is learnt that per day match fees could be hiked anywhere between Rs 50,000 to Rs 60,000 but the proposal would need BCCI general body's sanction.

Full Schedule:

Men:

Senior:

Syed Mushtaq Ali T20: 20 October, 2020 - 12 November, 2021

Ranji Trophy: 16 November, 2021 - 19 February, 2022

Vijay Hazare One-Day: 23 February, 2022 - 26 March, 2022

U-23:

CK Nayudu Trophy (multi-day): 18 November, 2021 - 12 February, 2022

State A team One-Day: 23 February, 2022 - 26 March, 2022

U-19:

Vinoo Mankad Trophy (One-Day): 28 September, 2021 - 29 October, 2021

Challenger Trophy (One-Day): 3 November, 2021 - 11 November, 2021