No Shortened Season, India's Domestic Season Likely To Be Completely Cancelled: Report

India’s upcoming domestic season looks very likely to be cancelled. The BCCI has finally managed to form a plan for the Indian Premier League (IPL) but the board is unlikely to do the same for the traditional domestic events like the Ranji Trophy, Duleep Trophy, the U-23 CK Nayudu Trophy, Vijay Hazare, Deodhar Trophy and the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament.

The BCCI is yet to announce any decision on the domestic season. But according to The Times of India, discussions about the same are going on at present. The prime reason behind the board’s unwillingness to go ahead with the domestic season is the alarming coronavirus situation in the country.

The cases are still rising at an alarming rate and there is absolutely no signs of the situation coming under control.

“In certain states, it’s bad. In other states, it’s worse. The numbers are unrelenting. In such a scenario, how does one plan anything over a period of three or four months, when you’re not sure what’s in store tomorrow,” sources in the know of developments was quoted as saying by the news outlet.

Last month, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly had sent letters to all the state associations, informing them that a curtailed domestic season and a shortened Ranji Trophy would be held this year. The former India skipper had proposed a roadmap for the resumption of domestic cricket, categorically stating that domestic cricket must start as and when conditions improve.

“The intent was always there but circumstances haven’t really changed. Ganguly’s letter was a little too early in the day,” said sources.

Another roadblock for the BCCI is to get the permission from all the state and city authorities. In these testing times, authorities are unlikely to let games take place.

“First, the state government permissions would be required. Then the city-specific municipalities will need to give a go-ahead. And even if that happens, preparing a bio-secure bubble for 37 Ranji teams, five Duleep Trophy teams, and the several other domestic teams would be next to impossible. Travel and accommodation will be another concern. It’s not feasible, said those tracking developments.

BCCI might face criticism for conducting the IPL and not the traditional domestic events but the T20 tournament is run by a different economic model. The riched and the most successful T20 tournament in the world, IPL is one of the biggest sources of revenue for the BCCI. The same revenue also helps the BCCI to run domestic cricket which hardly garners any substantial revenue.

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