BCCI plans to mow down domestic season amid COVID-19 pandemic
What's the story
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has decided to call-off a number of domestic tournaments in the nation amid coronavirus pandemic. These tournaments include Duleep Trophy, Deodhar Trophy, Vijay Hazare Trophy and CK Nayudu U-23 Trophy. Meanwhile, Ranji Trophy and the Under-19 Vinoo Mankad Trophy are the only tournaments that could take place. Here are further details.
Ranji Trophy
The proposed format of Ranji Trophy this season
As per a report in TOI, Ranji Trophy will likely be played in its traditional format. Notably, the teams will be divided geographically into five zones - North, West, South, East and Central. As many as 38 teams will compete in group stage before the top-ranked team from each zone proceed to the knockout round. These five teams will then contest for the trophy.
Salaries
Here is the amount players earn in Ranji Trophy
Ranji Trophy is the only tournament besides IPL, that fetches relatively higher salaries to players. In the tournament, a playing member earns nearly Rs. 1,40,000 per match, while the salary of a non-playing member is Rs. 70,000. The players could lose upto 12 lakh individually if the tournament gets canceled. Meanwhile, the cricket board is also interested to conduct the Under-19 Vinoo Mankad Trophy.
Quote
No point of drawing a schedule at present: BCCI official
"There is no point in chalking up a calendar without knowing what will be the COVID situation in December-January, 2021. Obviously, you can take it for granted that the Duleep Trophy and Vijay Hazare Trophy will be scrapped from the men's itinerary," said an official.
Tournaments
Domestic tournaments that concluded in 2020
The DY Patil T20 Cup was the last domestic tournament to be concluded before the advent of pandemic. Marquee Indian players like Shikhar Dhawan, Hardik Pandya and Bhuvneshwar Kumar participated in the T20 Cup. Indian Oil defeated Reliance 1 by 11 runs in the final. Previously, Saurashtra clinched the prestigious Ranji Trophy title by beating Bengal in the final.
IPL
IPL could commence in September this year
In the recently concluded Apex Council meeting, the board members marked the September-November window (September 26-November 7) for staging Indian Premier League, if the T20 WC gets called-off. Furthermore, the United Arab Emirates will likely be the tournament's host. However, the BCCI will first approach the government for conducting the IPL in India. The entire process will be subject to government approval.