Satwik & Chirag crash out
Sunil Gavaskar lauded the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s newlyannounced ‘Test Cricket Incentive Scheme’, but also suggested that the match fee for Ranji Trophy should also be increased substantially.
“That (Test scheme) is a wonderful thing by the BCCI to reward those who would be playing (the format), but I would also request the BCCI to ensure that the feeder to the Test team, which is the Ranji
Trophy, is also looked after. (If) the Ranji Trophy fees can be doubled or tripled, certainly there will be a lot more people playing the tournament,” Gavaskar said on the sidelines of the 25th anniversary celebrations of the CHAMPS Foundation.
“If the fees of playing a Ranji Trophy match is good, there will be less people pulling out for various reasons. They will all be wanting to play with the slab system — every 10 First Class matches you get that much more, so I would request the BCCI to look at that aspect as well,” Gavaskar said.
He also suggested that the Ranji should be played between October and midDecember and should be followed by whiteball fixtures. “My opinion is to have the Ranji from October to midDecember and then bring in the whiteball tournaments. That way, everybody will be available to play except for the ones featuring for India.”
“There will be no real excuse to pull out. With onedayers beginning from Jan., people who are in the IPL can start practice.”
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty bowed out in the men’s doubles second round of the All England Badminton Championships after a straight game defeat against Muhammad Shohibul Fikri and Bagas Maulana of Indonesia here.
Satwik and Chirag lost 1621, 1521 to the Indonesians, who were champions here in 2022. The top seeded Indian shuttlers, who had won the French Open last week, could not sustain the pressure on their rivals, the third seeds, and went down in a little over an hour.
Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa also exited in the women's doubles round of 16, after a 1121, 2111, 2111 defeat against Zhang Shu Xian and Zheng Yu of China.
Other result:
Men: Doubles: First round: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy & Chirag Shetty bt Mohammad Ahsan & Hendra Setiawan (Ina) 2118, 2114.