Kolkata to host Ranji Trophy final, Delhi to get crucial decider nod as BCCI releases domestic fixtures
The BCCI published an extensive list of domestic matches on Monday, when Delhi was announced as the host of the Syed Mushtaq Ali final on November 22, while Kolkata will be the venue for the Ranji final on March 16.
Neutral venues will be used across all tournaments with the men’s domestic calendar commencing with the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy on November 4. The Ranji Trophy will start on January 13, 2022 while the Vijay Hazare Trophy will get underway from December 8.
Matches will begin after the teams complete a five-day quarantine, with matches being held at Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Trivandrum and Chennai. Kolkata will host all the knockout matches, starting February 20. On the other hand, the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy will be held across Lucknow, Guwahati, Baroda, Delhi, Haryana and Vijayawada, with the knockouts starting in Delhi from November 16. The venues for Vijay Hazare Trophy have not been announced yet.
The Ranji trophy will consist of six groups, including five Elite ones of six teams each and one Plate group featuring eight teams. Heavyweights Mumbai, Karnataka and Delhi have been clubbed together in Elite Group C which is basically the group of Death while defending champions Saurashtra have been paired with Tamil Nadu, Railways, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand and Goa in Elite group D.
Last year’s runners-up Bengal will begin their campaign in Elite Group B alongside Vidarbha, Haryana, Kerala, Tripura and Rajasthan. The Plate group will comprise Chandigarh, Meghalaya, Bihar, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh.
In other developments, Bangalore will play host to both the Men’s U-25 State A one-day tournament finale on December 10 as well as the Senior Women’s One Day tournament decider on November 20.
