Board President Sourav Ganguly and Secretary Jay Shah were also present in the meeting.
New Delhi, Former head coach Ravi Shastri on Friday said that Indian cricket will become “backless” if the Ranji Trophy is neglected. Shastri made this statement shortly before the BCCI’s announcement to hold the Ranji Trophy in two phases from next month. The Ranji Trophy was to be played from January 13 but was postponed indefinitely due to the third wave of the Corona pandemic.
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Shastri tweeted, “Ranji Trophy is the backbone of Indian cricket. Ignoring this will make you spineless.” BCCI secretary Jay Shah in a statement confirmed the two-stage event of the tournament, just an hour after Shastri’s tweet.
The Ranji Trophy is the backbone of Indian cricket. The moment you start ignoring it our cricket will be SPINELESS!
— Ravi Shastri (@RaviShastriOfc) January 28, 2022
“The board has decided to organize the Ranji Trophy in two phases,” Shah said in a statement. The league level matches will be held in the first phase and the knockouts will be played in June. The 38-team tournament is understood to last for a month, starting from the second week of February. BCCI treasurer Arun Dhumal had said after the board meeting on Thursday that the board can organize the Ranji Trophy in two phases. The reason for this is that IPL is starting from March 27 and in such a situation it is not possible to get Ranji Trophy done in one go.
Board President Sourav Ganguly and Secretary Jay Shah were also present in the meeting. The board plans to conduct the first session of Ranji Trophy from February to March and the second session in June-July. Last season due to the pandemic, BCCI was able to hold only two men’s limited overs tournaments (Vijay Hazare Trophy and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy). The BCCI had paid 50 per cent of the match fee to all first-class cricketers in the absence of the Ranji Trophy last season. (agency)