BCCI postpones Ranji Trophy and other domestic competitions amid rise in COVID-19 cases

In what can be called a major announcement, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has postponed the Ranji Trophy, Col C K Nayudu Trophy & Senior Women’s T20 League for the 2021-22 season amid the rising COVID-19 cases in the country. For the unversed, the past week saw a rapid rise of COVID-19 cases in India. Owing to the same, BCCI’s decision of postponing domestic competitions was pretty much on the cards.

All these reports and speculations were confirmed on Tuesday (January 4) as the cricket body officially announced that the competitions won’t proceed as per schedule. It must be noted that the Ranji Trophy and Col C K Nayudu Trophy were scheduled to get underway later this month.

On the other hand, the Senior Women’s T20 League was scheduled to commence in February. However, all these events have now been postponed indefinitely. Explaining the decision in detail, BCCI said it doesn’t want to risk the health of players or staff members.

BCCI does not want to compromise the safety of the players: Jay Shah

“BCCI does not want to compromise the safety of the players, support staff, match officials and other participants involved and hence, has decided to put the three tournaments on hold till further notice. The BCCI will continue to assess the situation and take a call on the start of the tournaments accordingly,” said BCCI secretary Jay Shah in an official statement.

“BCCI thanks and continues to appreciate the efforts of the healthcare workers, state associations, players, support staff, match officials and all the service providers who put their best foot forward to host more than 700 matches across 11 tournaments in the current 2021-22 domestic season,” he added.

Meanwhile, players and members of several teams have also been diagnosed with the COVID-19 virus. In fact, the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) has even postponed the local competitions in awake of the current COVID-19 situation.

“(The meeting is)To review the current Covid situation and take necessary decisions about holding of local tournaments (first division, second division and district tournaments) at present,” CAB president Avishek Dalmiya said in a statement.