Report- BCCI Draws Up Schedule For The Domestic Season; Provision Only For SMAT And Ranji Trophy

The Board of Control for Cricket in India [BCCI] has decided to axe the Duleep Trophy, the Deodhar Trophy and the Vijay Hazare Trophy for the upcoming domestic season. That means only Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy and Ranji Trophy will be conducted this year.

According to a report published in the Times of India, the schedule of the season has been drawn up by former Indian captain and the current head of the National Cricket Academy [NCA] Rahul Dravid and the interim CEO of IPL Hemang Amin. The Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy will kick off a few days after the culmination of the IPL, from November 19 and will culminate on December 02. The Ranji Trophy, on the other hand, will get underway from December 13, culminating on March 10.

All 38 teams will be divided into six groups in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Each group’s matches will be held on two grounds in a single city. A total of 109 games will be played- 40 less than the last season.

As far as Ranji Trophy is concerned, the BCCI has decided to club the teams in five groups. Group A, B, C will consist of eight teams each, while Group D will comprise of either of six, seven or eight teams. The top-2 teams in groups A, B, C and D will qualify for the knockouts. A total of 136 matches will be played this season, and to avoid travelling, matches of each group will be played on four grounds in two cities. All the north-east teams will be clubbed in Group E. The winner of group D will face the first-placed team of group E for a pre-quarterfinal, the winner of which will move to the quarterfinal round.

The bottom-placed teams in A, B and C will get relegated to group D while the top three teams from D will move to group A, B and C. The side who finished at the bottom in Group D will be relegated to Group E while the top-ranked team in the latter will be promoted to the former.

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BCCI planning to conduct full-fledged Junior-level and Women domestic tournaments

The BCCI has also decided to conduct junior-level tournaments- the CK Nayudu Under-23 Trophy [from December 15 to March 09], Cooch Behar Trophy [from November 01 to January 22, 2021] and Vijay Merchant Trophy [November 01 to January 07, 2021].

As far as domestic women cricket is concerned, the BCCI is planning to hold a full-fledged season which includes- the One-Day League [March 17 to April 12, 2021], 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 [February 21 to March 11].

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