BCCI set to hold Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and Ranji Trophy right after IPL 2020

As the Indian Premier League (IPL) is finally happening outside the country, the BCCI is looking to get the cricket started in India as well. The Indian government is set to give clearance for IPL to be played in UAE but with the COVID-19 cases on a rise in the country, the circumstances look unlikely for the domestic cricket to happen. England team’s tour of India to play limited-overs cricket has already been postponed.

However, as per reports, the BCCI is set to hold the domestic cricket right after the IPL ends. According to a tentative plan made by Rahul Dravid and Hemang Amin, the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy will be played from November 19 to December 7 and the Ranji Trophy will start from December 13. BCCI is planning to hold Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and Ranji Trophy this year.

This will also make sure that the franchises can have a good look at the Indian players who will perform in the domestic T20 tournament. The IPL auction for the year 2021 is set to happen in January or February. Due to the loss of time, the tournaments which might not happen this year would be Duleep Trophy, Deodhar and Vijay Hazare Trophy.

The board also don’t want to make the junior cricket suffer. BCCI aspires to conduct all the junior tournaments — the CK Nayudu Under-23 Trophy (from December 15 to March 9, 2021), Cooch Behar Trophy (from November 1 to January 22, 2021) and Vijay Merchant Trophy (November 1 to January 7, 2021).

The women’s cricket is also getting the much-needed importance by the apex board. Women’s cricket will see a full domestic calendar — the One-Day League (March 17 to April 12, 2021), T20 League (November 1-20), U-23 One-Day league (November 30-December 23), U-23 T20 league (January 27 to February 15), U-19 One-Day League (December 29- January 21) and U-19 T20 Trophy (Feb 21 to March 11).

Ranji Trophy will witness some important changes

To adhere to the ‘new normal’, the Ranji trophy will have some important changes. The matches of each group will be played in 2 cities at two different grounds. The teams have been divided into 5 groups, A, B and C group will have 8 teams each. While group D will have six, seven or eight teams.

The professional rules have also changed as now in a new rule, the board has introduced a new round. The winner of Group D will face the first-placed team of Group E for a pre-quarterfinal, the winner of which will move into the quarterfinals.

The bottom-placed teams of groups A, B and C get relegated to Group D, while the top three teams from Group D get promoted to groups A, B and C. The bottom-placed team in Group D will be demoted to Group E, while the top-placed team from Group E will be promoted to Group D.

All these scenarios still banks on the situation of the COVID-19 cases. The good part is that the BCCI is concerned about domestic cricket which doesn’t provide enough revenue. The matter of concerns also gets important as because of lack of revenue, these tournaments can’t be relocated to any other country.