Former Indian men’s cricket team head coach Ravi Shastri has taken an indirect dig at BCCI for not taking a decision on holding Ranji Trophy earlier.
India’s red-ball tournament is a backbone of Indian cricket as it produces cricketers for the international cricket.
The Ranji Trophy was not held last season due to the raging coronavirus pandemic and dates of this season has not yet been announced by BCCI. The season, which usually starts in late November, is still searching for a new date. While all efforts are being carried out to host IPL 2022 in India.
Key members of BCCI including president Sourav Ganguly, secretary Jay Shah met on Thursday to decide over the fate of Ranji Trophy. At the end of the meeting, it was decided that the tournament will be held in two phases.
It is expected that the 38-team tournament will begin in the second week of February and the first phase will continue for about a month.
BCCI treasurer Arun Dhumal, after a meeting of the Board on Thursday, had said that the body intends to hold the tournament in “two phases”. This is because the BCCI is planning to start the IPL from March 27 and it will be practically impossible to hold the Ranji Trophy at a stretch.
Dhumal had said this after many state units and the BCCI brass held a meeting to discuss the way forward. The fans are raising questions on BCCI’s intentions. That why did they not decide to host the tournament earlier.
A day later, Shastri wrote on his Twitter that how important Ranji Trophy is for Indian cricket, putting further more pressure on BCCI to organise it this year. He called Ranji Trophy the backbone of Indian cricket without which it will be spineless.
“The Ranji Trophy is the backbone of Indian cricket. The moment you start ignoring it our cricket will be SPINELESS!,” Shastri tweeted. Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan too tweeted on the hot topic, saying that in the pasr few days he has received call from domestic cricketers who are asking whether the tournament will be held or not.
Not to forget, there are players who do not play IPL and their bread butter is dependent on the domestic tournaments like Ranji Trophy, Vijay Hazare Trophy and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
Plus, there are umpires, groundsmen who are suffering for no domestic cricket is happening in the country. Irfan wrote: “Bhai Ranji trophy kab start ho Rahi hai? Ho Rahi ha na? I had at least 25 cricketers calling and checking on me about it. So happy to hear about Ranji trophy starting soon.”