BCCI UNDECIDED ON RANJI TROPHY; WOMEN’S CRICKET LIKELY IN MARCH

NEW DELHI: The fate of Ranji Trophy, remained undecided but BCCI’S Apex Council on Sunday gave its approval to begin women’s cricket season from March. India’s domestic season, which was delayed for months due to the pandemic, finally took off earlier this month with the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy. The tournament is being played in a bio-secure bubble.

A decision on Ranji Trophy was expected in the meeting on Sunday but the members could not find a consensus, despite BCCI president Sourav Ganguly batting firmly for the prestigious first-class tournament.

“The president remains committed to Ranji Trophy but a few others were not on the same page and wanted to host Vijay Hazare Trophy instead (50-over event). The operations team has been asked to work on the logistics for Ranji Trophy, which is obviously a much bigger challenge,” a BCCI official said. “It will be either Ranji or Vijay Hazare and it will be decided by the end of this week,” he said.

With IPL likely in Marchapril, BCCI is finding it tough to slot in the first-class event.

“It is likely to be a full fledged domestic season for women and there will be finally some cricket for our international stars with Sri Lanka and England expected to come,” the official added.