Reports: Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy to start on December 20, Ranji Trophy scheduled from January 11

Ever since India’s ODIs against South Africa was called off due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has been scratching its head for the resumption of cricket in the country. Recently, the world’s richest cricket board has sought the views of its state associations regarding the structure of the upcoming domestic season.

The BCCI, in a letter to the associations, put forth four options, the first of which is conducting only the Ranji Trophy. As the second option, the board wants only the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy to take place. The BCCI, going by the third option, proposed a combination of the Ranji Trophy and the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.

BCCI proposes 67-day window for Ranji Trophy

A combination of the Vijay Hazare, the one-day tournament, and the Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy has been included as the fourth option. Going by the letter, the BCCI has talked about the windows, including a 67-day window for the Ranji Trophy from January 11-18.

The domestic T20 tournament can be conducted for 22 days from December 20 to January 10 even as the Vijay Hazare Trophy can take place for 28 days between January 11 to February 7.

“Establishing a structure for a new competition during a pandemic has provided specific challenges for domestic cricket, most notably having the required medical personnel in place to handle stringent return-to-play protocols,” the letter suggested, reported by Times Now.

The board will be creating six bio-secure hubs for the domestic events with 38 teams. “The 38 teams will be divided into 5 Elite groups and 1 Plate group. The Elite groups will consist of 6 teams each while the Plate group will have 8 teams,” it mentioned.

The BCCI, recently, conducted the 2020 edition of the Indian Premier League in the United Arab Emirates. The tournament was set to start in March in India, but the coronavirus pandemic led to the IPL being moved out of the home country.

Teams started preparing from the month of August and the tournament ended, successfully, on November 10 with Mumbai Indians coming out trumps. The Indian cricketers are currently in Australia for the limited-overs series.