Former India head coach Ravi Shastri on Friday (January 28) opined that the Ranji Trophy is the backbone of Indian cricket and the premier domestic red-ball tournament should not be ignored.

The Ranji Trophy 2021-22 was scheduled to get underway on January 13 but was postponed indefinitely owing to the third wave of COVID-19 in the country.

"The Ranji Trophy is the backbone of Indian cricket. The moment you start ignoring it, our cricket will be SPINELESS," tweeted Shastri.

The Ranji Trophy couldn’t take place last season as well, due to the COVID-19 outbreak and the logistical obstacles faced for having an extended bio-bubble for 38 teams.

If the First-Class event doesn’t go ahead this season, it will certainly impact the BCCI’s pathways cricket like India A team, which is largely selected on the basis of Rani Trophy performances.

Meanwhile, a PTI report suggests that the BCCI is planning to conduct the Ranji Trophy in "two phases."

"We are exploring the possibility of staging Ranji Trophy, cases were going up when it was postponed, now they seem to be coming down. The operations team is working on whether we can do the league stage next month and complete the rest of the tournament later (post IPL)," PTI quoted BCCI treasurer Arun Dhumal as saying.