‘Ranji Trophy to be held in two phases,’ says BCCI secretary Jay Shah

BCCI secretary on Friday said that the board intends to hold the Ranji Trophy 2021-22 of every two stages after it had to defer the premier first-class tournament because of rising cases of COVID-19 in the country.

The Ranji Trophy including 38-first class teams was scheduled to begin on January 13 however was delayed indefinitely due of the third wave of COVID-19.

With the BCCI intending to begin the IPL from March 27, it is basically difficult to hold the Ranji Trophy in one go, yet after demands from many state units, the metal held a gathering to talk about the way forward.

“The Board has decided to conduct the Ranji Trophy this season in two phases. In the first phase, we plan to complete all matches of the league stage while the knockouts will be held in June,” said Jay Shah.

” “My team is working closely to mitigate any kind of health risk caused by the pandemic, while at the same time ensuring a highly competitive red-ball cricket contest,” he added.

The meeting was likewise attended by BCCI president Sourav Ganguly and secretary Jay Shah.

Although, the plan right now is to hold the league phase for a month, beginning in February till March and afterward have the following stage in June-July, when the rainy season begins in most parts of the country.

The BCCI paid half of the earlier match expenses as remuneration to all first-class cricketers who have persevered through monetary losses.

On the off chance that it isn’t held for the current year, it will seriously influence the BCCI’s pathways cricket like India A group, which is basically chosen based on Ranji Trophy execution.