New Delhi: The BCCI will conduct all its domestic tournaments across age-groups with the coveted Ranji Trophy, starting on November 16, being the marquee event among the 2127 matches scheduled for 2021-22 season.
Last season, the BCCI couldn't conduct any age-group tournament and was forced to cancel the Ranji Trophy due to COVID-19 pandemic.
However, a full-fledged domestic season will take place this year with Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 to begin from October 20 and the National One-Day Championship for Vijay Hazare Trophy being scheduled from February 23 next year.
Also Read
"The season will commence on September 21, 2021, with the Senior Women's One Day League and will be followed by the Senior Women's One Day Challenger Trophy, which will take place from October 27, 2021," BCCI secretary Jay Shah said in a media release.
The final of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy will be played on November 12 this year.
The coveted Ranji Trophy will be played in a three-month window from November 16, 2021 to February 19, 2022.
The Vijay Hazare Trophy final will take place on March 26, 2022.
"The BCCI is confident of hosting the domestic season with health and safety of players and all people involved being paramount," the statement further read.
The Ranji Trophy will be played with two Elite groups comprising nine teams each and the C group and Plate (North East Teams mainly) will have 10 teams each.
It is expected that the top five teams as per points from the Elite groups will make it to the quarterfinals while two from group C and topper of Plate group completing the last eight line-up.
In case of Vijay Hazare Trophy, the groupings will remain same while Mushtaq Ali T20 will have five groups with two groups of seven teams and three groups of eight teams each respectively.
The BCCI will conduct Vinoo Mankad Trophy (National U-19 One Day) and U-19 Challengers Trophy in between September to November in order to select the white-ball probables for next year's ICC U-19 World Cup.
The three-day Cooch Behar Trophy will start only after the two tournaments are over.
"The core probables for India U-19s will be selected from Vonoo Mankad and subsequently from the Challengers Trophy. If there are any exceptional performers in Cooch Behar, they will be added later on," a BCCI source said.
The women's U-19 and boys' U-16 tournament (Vijay Merchant Trophy) will also be held this year along with the U-23 age group tournament.
No Irani Cup, Duleep or Deodhar Trophy
=========================
While a whopping 2127 domestic games are being held, just like the 2019-20 edition, there will be no Irani Cup, Duleep Trophy (inter-zonal first-class) or Deodhar Trophy (rechristened in Challenger Format) during this edition also. It is understood that Irani Cup and Duleep Trophy, which used to be selection audition for men's national team, has lost its relevance and hence it has been shelved for the time being.
There is also a proposal to increase the match fees of domestic cricketers but the quantum hasn't yet been decided. As of now, they get Rs 1.4 lakh per first-class game and Rs 35,000 for List A and T20 games. This is for the first-team players while reserves get half the amount. It is learnt that per day match fees could be hiked anything between Rs 50,000 to Rs 60,000 but the proposal would need BCCI general body's sanction.
The Dates:
Men:
Senior:
Syed Mushtaq Ali T20: Oct 20, 2020 - Nov 12, 2021
Ranji Trophy: Nov 16, 2021 -Feb 19, 2022
Vijay Hazare One-Day: Feb 23, 2022-Mar 26, 2022
U-23:
CK Nayudu Trophy (multi-day): Nov 18, 2021 -Feb 12, 2022
State A team One-Day: Feb 23, 2022 -Mar 26, 2022
U-19:
Vinoo Mankad Trophy (One-Day): Sep 28, 2021-Oct 29, 2021
Challenger Trophy (One-Day): Nov 3, 2021-Nov 11, 2021
Cooch Behar Trophy (multi-day): Nov 14, 2021-Feb 7, 2022
U-16:
Vijay Merchant Trophy (multi-day): Oct 1, 2021-Dec 6, 2021
Women:
Senior:
One-Day League: Sep 21, 2021- Oct 22, 2021
One-day Challenger: Oct 27, 2021 - Oct 31, 2021
T20 League: Mar 19, 2022- Apr 11, 2022.
U-23:
T20 League: Jan 17, 2022 -Feb 7, 2022
One-Day League: Feb 11, 2022 - Mar 15, 2022
U-19:
One-Day League: Oct 1, 2021- Oct 31, 2021
T20 League: Nov 4, 2021 - Nov 27, 2021
One-Day Challenger Trophy: Dec 1, 2021-Dec 5, 2021.