BCCI president, Sourav Ganguly is optimistic that Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara would revert to domestic cricket to get back to their standard form. Ganguly Advices Rahane & Pujara To Go Back To Ranji Trophy.
Since the beginning of the 2020 season, Pujara and Rahane have made less than 30 Tests. Both had a dismal touring of South Africa, with the exception of one session in Johannesburg, when they used all of their ability and skill to strike half-centuries before forging a strong defensive 3rd-wicket collaboration of 111.
Ganguly believes that participating in the Ranji Trophy will benefit the experienced combo. “They are very good players. Hopefully, they will go back to Ranji Trophy and score a lot of runs – which I am sure they will,” said Ganguly.
Ganguly Advices Rahane & Pujara To Go Back To Ranji Trophy
This year’s Ranji Trophy will be conducted in two stages, separated by the IPL. All league games will be played in the 1st stage, which will take place in February-March, with the final games taking place in June. Pujara and Rahane could obtain some playing experience before the Sri Lanka Tests, which begin on February 16.
“I don’t see any problem (for them to go back to domestic cricket after playing so much international cricket). Ranji Trophy is a huge tournament and we have all played the tournament. So, they, too, will go back there and perform. They have played the tournament in the past, when they were only playing Test cricket and were not part of the ODI or limited-overs team,” Ganguly added.
Ranji Trophy is set to begin on February 10
In the recent development, BCCI secretary Jay Shah updated the details: “We have spread the Ranji Trophy to nine different venues, across the country to mitigate any cross-transmission risk while also ensuring that bio-secure bubbles are not overburdened. While the persistent virus has still breached the bubble we have factored in certain contingency plans drawing from our past experience while formulating this structure,” said BCCI secretary Jay Shah.
The Ranji Trophy will kick off on February 10, with the first part of the contest spanning until March 15. From May 30 to June 26, the 2nd phase of the two-phase event will be contested.
As per the scheduling and pattern provided by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), a total of 64 games will be contested over 9 venues in 62 days. The two-phase tournament will be held in Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Delhi, Rajkot, Guwahati, Cuttack, Trivandrum, Chennai, and a Haryana.
