Reports: BCCI mulling Under-25 tournament instead of Under-23 to increase opportunities for fringe players

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is putting their thinking hats on certain tweaks to be made in the domestic structure and administrative hierarchy in the Board of office. In a mega meeting conducted in Delhi on Saturday, July 31, it was concluded that the views on hosting an Under-25 tournament in place of the current Under-23 championship as a way forward for the Indian domestic circuit need to be looked out for.

This decision of the Under -25 tournament comes with the view of providing an opportunity to more players in first-class cricket who aren’t able to be part of the game if they don’t make it to the state’s Ranji trophy team. This would be a great initiative to allow more budding cricketers to be involved in the game despite the fact that they are in the Ranji team or not. It is, however, expected that the BCCI might get in talks with the state associations before making any final decision on the matter.

Certain speculations about the hosting of the Under-16 tournament were also making rounds. But considering the current pandemic situation wherein vaccination is still not allowed for the Under-18 category there is a high possibility that holding this competition will pose threat to the health of the players. About the administrative hierarchy, the BCCI has been discussing having a permanent CEO. This understandably comes with the view of ending the temporary service of Hemang Amin who has been given the duty after Rahul Johri, the first CEO of the BCCI, resigned late last year.

BCCI in talks with foreign boards regarding player participation in IPL 2021

The second phase of the IPL is set to start from September 19 in the UAE. However, the participation of certain players in the tournament is doubtful owing to national duties, Covid protocols, and the T20 World Cup preparation. The BCCI is in talks with the foreign boards to confirm the same.

The BCCI was expected to inform the franchises of the updates on Saturday. The Board will now wait for a few more days before formally giving the franchises a green signal to look for the replacements of the players as reported by Cricbuzz.