Ranji Trophy 2017/18: CAB Will Not Ask for the Release of International Players

Sourav Ganguly, the President of Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB), has said the state association would not ask BCCI to release international players like Mohammed Shami and Wriddhiman Saha for their semi-final tie against Delhi, as per a report in The Telegraph India.

Ishan Porel, the U-19 pacer, has also been forced to leave the Bengal camp to join the U-19 camp in NCA before the start of the junior World Cup next year.

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Bengal had earlier asked for the release of international players during the season, and they got the services of them as well, but this time, the board will neither ask for any international player nor Porel.

Bengal will take on Delhi in the semi-final who might also miss the services of their regular skipper Ishant Sharma. The pacer was though released from the Test squad during the Kolkata Test to join the stateside, but now, he may not be allowed to play the knockout game keeping in mind the workload which the Indian pacers will endure during the South Africa tour.

Same would be the case with Vidarbha, as Umesh Yadav, despite being not included in the playing XI for Delhi Test, was not allowed to play Ranji Trophy for Vidarbha. This time, Vidarbha might not even ask the board to release the pacer.

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BCCI has now opted a policy to let players take enough rest. As a result of it, players like Jasprit Bumrah, Kedar Jadhav and Axar Patel were not allowed to play Ranji Trophy and were asked to stay at NCA to keep fit. Their teams were playing Ranji Trophy league round at that time, but still, they were not allowed to play the tournament.

Indian Test players are expected to undergo extra grind during South Africa tour, and team management is keen to give its players, equally bowlers, extra rest days. In addition to that, team management has also asked for four additional pacers on tour, so as to balance the workload.

The semi-final of the Ranji Trophy will be played from December 17 to 21. In Bengal, R Vinay Kumar-led Karnataka will face Faiz Fazal-led Vidarbha while in Pune, Rishab Pant-led Delhi will face Manoj Tiwary-led Bengal.

The final of the first-class tournament will be played from December 29 to January 2.

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