The BCCI has taken the difficult decision of not hosting the Ranji Trophy tournament for the first time in its 87-year history and instead go for the Vijay Hazare Trophy and a white-ball tournament for women to continue the restart of India’s domestic season which was halted since March 2020.
The board will also conduct the U-19 National One Day tournament for the Vinoo Mankad Trophy, as per the wishes of the majority of the state associations. The resumption of domestic cricket happened in India with the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, with its final set to be held in Ahmedabad on Sunday (January 31).
In an email to the state associations, BCCI secretary Jay Shah wrote, “it was extremely important for us to ensure that women's cricket takes place and I am extremely happy to inform you that we are going to conduct the Senior Women's One-day tournament simultaneously with the Vijay Hazare Trophy and follow it up with Vinoo Mankad Trophy Under 19. This has been decided after having received your feedback on the domestic season 2020-21.”
Many of the former India cricketers have lauded this move of the Indian cricket board including Irfan Pathan and Wasim Jaffer.
Now Suresh Raina and Parthiv Patel have also joined in appreciating BCCI’s steps to ensure the domestic cricketers get back to the game and also earn money as well, given that no cricket happened from March to December 2020.
Raina tweeted, “It isn’t an easy decision to ahead with Vijay Hazare, Women's and under 19 tournament during such challenging times. Kudos to @BCCI for ensuring that cricketers across India continue to have access to the platforms & opportunities for a brighter future. @JayShah @ShuklaRajiv”
On the other hand, Parthiv Patel posted, “Well done @BCCI for going ahead with Vijay Hazare, Women's and under 19 tournament. It's not easy to organise so many matches, especially during such a pandemic time. These tournaments will benefit more than 2000 cricketers across India. @JayShah @SGanguly99”
