Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 will start from October, Rani Trophy returns in January 2022
The Ranji Trophy, India’s premier domestic cricket tournament, will return in January 2022 after the pandemic did not feature it last season, marking the first break in its 87-year history.
The domestic cricket season will kick off this September with the U-19 boys one-day tournament, the Vinoo Mankad Trophy, to be played in a bio-bubble environment.
For seniors, the BCCI has planned the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament from the third week of October followed by one-day Vijay Hazare Trophy in November. If everything goes smoothly the board wants to have its Ranji Trophy and U-25 games in January 2022. The women’s senior and U- 25 games will also be played then.
That BCCI joint secretary Jayesh George has been given charge of preparing the domestic calendar for the forthcoming season. A tentative schedule was sent by the secretary Jay Shah in July but the board had to alter its old schedule due to the IPL mega auction and the pandemic. As per the old schedule which was circulated earlier, the board was planning to host its Ranji Trophy from November 16 to February 19m 2022 but has now decided to conduct Vijay Hazare Trophy in November. The state associations will be informed about the new schedule next week. The Indian board has gone back to the old season formula where five Elite groups will have six teams apiece while the remaining eight teams will form one plate group. A secure bio-bubble will be formed and the teams will have to check in three days in advance at their respective venues.
The Indian board has decided to conduct U-19 games first to prepare and select the team for the ICC under 19 World Cup, scheduled to be held in West Indies in January 2022. Owing to the pandemic, the board could not conduct any junior cricket for the last one year.
The BCCI will also announce a new five-member junior selection committee in due course. However, it’s not clear whether the board will go ahead with U-16 tournaments despite announcing it earlier.
