The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has chosen Bangalore, Kolkata, Vadodara, Indore, Mumbai and Chennai as six venues for the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament to be played from January 10th to 31st, 2021, board secretary Jay Shah told the state associations in an e-mail.
In possession of the copy of the mail, Times of India reported the details of the tournament conveyed forward by Shah for now.
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38 senior domestic sides will be divided into five Elite groups A, B, C, D, E and one Plate group. New teams like Chandigarh, Bihar and the Northeast region are part of the Plate group.
Mumbai, interestingly, has been picked to host matches for Elite Group E despite the state government not yet giving permission to resume outdoor sports amid COVID-19 pandemic.
With the BCCI planning to introduce two new IPL teams next year and conduct a mega auction as well, this winter's Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 assumes greater importance.
"The teams are required to assemble in their respected host cities on or before January 2 and will be needed to undergo COVID-19 testing procedures and quarantine in accordance with the state regulatory authorities," Shah wrote in the email.
"As we try our best to navigate (through) these challenging times, we count on you for your active cooperation and support in making this tournament a grand success. The full schedule of Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 will be shared in due course," he concluded.
The Groupings:
Elite A: Venue Bangalore
Teams: Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Railways and Tripura.
Elite B: Venue Kolkata
Teams: Odisha, Bengal, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu, Assam and Hyderabad.
Elite C: Venue Vadodara
Teams: Gujarat, Maharashtra, Chattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Baroda and Uttarakhand.
Elite D: Venue Indore
Teams: Services, Saurashtra, Vidarbha, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Goa.
Elite E: Venue Mumbai
Teams: Haryana, Andhra, Delhi, Mumbai, Kerala and Puducherry.
Plate: Venue Chennai
Teams: Chandigarh, Meghalaya, Bihar, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh.
