The Ranji Trophy and Syed Mushtaq Ali T20, country's premier first-class and shortest-format competitions, respectively, are the only ones to be held in the next Indian domestic season at the senior state level, says a report in the Times of India.
The domestic season usually begins in late August, but with the nation still fighting a battle against the Coronavirus pandemic, the BCCI seems to have decided to cancel Duleep, Deodhar, Irani and Vijay Hazare Trophy for the 2020-21 winter.
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The report states, "As per a tentative schedule (a copy is with TOI) for this season drawn up by batting legend Rahul Dravid, who is the National Cricket Academy (NCA) head, and interim IPL CEO Hemang Amin, the Mushtaq Ali Trophy will begin from November 19, just after the IPL, and culminate on December 7, while the Ranji Trophy will kick off from December 13 and end on March 10."
There were speculations that the BCCI may just go back to the zonal system in the Ranji Trophy, but the board has decided against it. "Instead, to avoid travelling during the tournament, matches in each group will be played on four grounds in two cities," the TOI report states. "Teams have been divided into five groups. Groups A, B and C will consist of eight teams each, while Group D will comprise six, seven or eight teams. The top two teams in groups A, B and C will qualify for the knockouts."
"All the six northeastern teams have been clubbed in Group E. Interestingly, in an innovation, the Board has introduced a new round. The winner of Group D will face the first-placed team of Group E for a pre-quarterfinal, the winner of which will move into the quarterfinals."
"The bottom-placed teams of groups A, B and C get relegated to Group D, while the top three teams from Group D get promoted to groups A, B and C. The bottom-placed team in Group D will be relegated to Group E, while the top-placed team from Group E will be promoted to Group D."
38 teams will be divided into six different groups, which will each have matches played at only two venues in one city, in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20, beginning just a day after the IPL 2020 concludes in UAE.
While the men's senior domestic season has been curtailed, the news is better for the women's and junior cricket circuit.
The women's domestic cricket will have a full-fledged season, comprising the One-Day League (March 17 to April 12, 2021), T20 League (November 1-20), U-23 One-Day league (November 30-December 23), U-23 T20 league (January 27 to February 15), U-19 One-Day League (December 29- January 21) and U-19 T20 Trophy (Feb 21 to March 11).
In the junior category, the plan is to conduct tournaments on zonal lines before the knock-outs in order to diminish travelling requirements. All the competitions, including the CK Nayudu Under-23 Trophy (from December 15 to March 9, 2021), Cooch Behar Trophy (from November 1 to January 22, 2021) and Vijay Merchant Trophy (November 1 to January 7, 2021), will be played as per this arrangement.
The whole schedule, of course, is subject to change if the situation around the pandemic doesn't improve in the coming months.
(Inputs from TOI)
