Domestic Cricket Season Of Indian Cricket Is Likely To Be Extended:
It seems highly likely that India ‘s upcoming domestic season – which has no starting date yet – will be extended to June next year, with the BCCI ‘s attempts to host the Ranji Trophy “a priority” and “at least one big women’s tournament at all ages” on the cards.
“We ‘re trying to get as much of the domestic season as possible. It’s obviously difficult to get underway instantly, because there’s also the question of the IPL moving to UAE. But we’re trying to get a timetable in place,” a board official told a leading sports website. “This year we won’t be able to have anything and maybe we’ll only be able to start in November, but the idea is to have a priority list of tournaments, and the Ranji Trophy is right on top of that list.
“If we’re keeping it in its current form or a truncated edition, we don’t know yet. We don’t even know how much of a window we ‘re going to have. That’s going to depend on when we can start and when we can begin, whether we have the next IPL in April-May season.”
A total of 2036 games were played during the 2019-20 season, across different age groups in the men’s and women ‘s categories. The season would have started in July-August, in normal circumstances, and run until around March. Since this year there isn’t going to be that much time, the BCCI is trying to work out a tweaked format, especially for the Ranji Trophy.
It could be that one city in each country, which can provide three or four decent venues, will become the core of all the action; but even then, it’s all “totally fluid.” That aside, with Covid-19 numbers rising, hotel availability and much else is a concern. “It’s impossible to confirm anything until all of these things are known,” said BCCI official.
There was also a chance that the domestic schedule could go full haywire or feature just a fraction of the normal number of games. “Hopefully, if we can find a cure or vaccine level even towards the end of the year, we will be able to complete, even if not the entire domestic season, but large parts of it,” said Rahul Dravid, boss of the National Cricket Academy, in a webinar hosted by a leading media house. “It’s obviously important to prioritize what that would be so young boys and girls don’t miss out on a year of cricketing.
“For many of our young domestic players-juniors, under-16s, under-19s and women cricketers-the next domestic season begins in October. If we can’t get back to normal from that point on-it could take longer-we’ll see the real impact on our domestic cricket and grassroots cricket” said Dravid.
