Ahead of the upcoming season of the Ranji Trophy, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has said that the squad size of each team should not exceed 30 members and there should be a minimum 20 players in that contingent.
“Accordingly, the number of support staff is capped at a total of 10,” the BCCI has told the state associations ahead of the Ranji Trophy, beginning from February 17.
Meanwhile, the board has also permitted the states to carry two reserves in view of the current pandemic situation. “The teams are permitted to carry two extra players as COVID RESERVES. In case, where a Team India cricketer is deputed by the BCCI to participate in domestic cricket, he will be eligible for match fee over and above the 20 players based on his Playing XI and non-Playing XI status in the matches,” the BCCI wrote.
Further claryifying on the match fees, the board has declared that of the 20, the playing XI will be entitled for full match fee of Rs 2.4 lakh each while the remaining nine will get 50 percent of it.
Meanwhile, the board has announced that the reporting date for each team will be February 10 after which the squad will begin their five-day quarantine, which will end on February 14. The teams will then practice for two days following which the first-round matches will start on February 17.
Notably, Cuttack, Rajkot, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Trivandrum, Delhi, Haryana, Guwahati and Kolkata are scheduked to host the matches of the two-phased tournament with the Indian Premier League (IPL) in between.
Earlier, the BCCI had announced that the Ranji Trophy season will begin from February 10 and the first phase of the Indian domestic first-class championship will be held between February 10 and March 15 where a total of 57 matches. The first phase will run for a period of 34 days.
Later, the second phase of the tournament will be played between May 30 and June 26, after the end of IPPL 2022.
Earlier in January, the Indian board had postponed the Ranji Trophy along with the Col CK Nayudu Trophy and senior women’s T20 League for the 2021-22 season in the wake of the rising Covid-19 cases across the nation.
The BCCI had said that it took the decision keeping in mind the safety of the players, support staff, match officials, and other participants involved.
“BCCI does not want to compromise the safety of the players, support staff, match officials, and other participants involved and hence, has decided to put the three tournaments on hold till further notice. The BCCI will continue to assess the situation and take a call on the start of the tournaments accordingly,” the board secretary Jay Shah had said in a statement.
“BCCI thanks and continues to appreciate the efforts of the healthcare workers, state associations, players, support staff, match officials, and all the service providers who put their best foot forward to host more than 700 matches across 11 tournaments in the current 2021-22 domestic season,” it added.
Notably, the Ranji Trophy was also not held last season due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
GROUPINGS:
Elite A (Rajkot): Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Meghalaya
Elite B (Cuttack): Bengal, Baroda, Hyderabad, Chandigarh
Elite C (Chennai): Karnataka, Railways, Jammu and Kashmir, Pondicherry
Elite D (Ahmedabad): Saurashtra, Mumbai, Odisha, Goa
Elite E (Thiruvananthapuram): Andhra, Rajasthan, Services, Uttarakhand
Elite F (Delhi): Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Tripura
Elite G (Rohtak, Gurugram): Vidarbha, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Assam
Elite H (Guwahati): Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand, Chattisgarh
Plate (Kolkata): Bihar, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh