Mumbai, Nov 29: Desperate to have some domestic cricket underway, the BCCI has sought its state associations’ view on the structure of the curtailed season for which it plans to create six bio-secure hubs across the country between December and March.
In a letter to the associations, the Board has suggested four options on the conduct starting with having only the blue-riband Ranji Trophy. The second option is conducting just the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament. The third scenario is a combination of Ranji Trophy and Syed Mushtaq Ali while the fourth is a window for two white-ball tourneys (Syed Mushtaq Ali and Vijay Hazare Trophy). As per the letter, which has been accessed by PTI, the BCCI has also spoken about the potential windows for the events, proposing 67 days for Ranji Trophy (January 11-March 18). The Mushtaq Ali Tournament will need 22 days (December 20 to January 10) while Vijay Hazare Trophy, if held, can be conducted between January 11 to Feb 7 — a period of 28 days. “Establishing a structure for a new competition during a pandemic has provided specific challenges for domestic cricket, most notably having the required medical personnel in place to handle stringent return-to-play protocols,” the letter stated. BCCI will create six bio secure hubs for the domestic tournament with 38 teams. “The 38 teams will be divided into 5 Elite groups and 1 Plate group. The Elite groups will consist of 6 teams each while the Plate group will have 8 teams,” it stated. Each of the BCCI hub will have a minimum of three venues and the games would be broadcast digitally. President Sourav Ganguly has been insisting that even the domestic season, which usually begins in August, will go ahead at some point. (PTI)
