The Ranji Trophy is set to be cancelled for the second successive season due to the nationwide surge in COVID-19 cases. There is no window ahead of the 15th edition of the Indian Premier League, which is likely to begin on April 2.
To finish the league stage of Ranji would require 35 days, which would be followed by knockouts.
"The IPL bubble will start around March 20, and at the moment, there seems to be no clarity when the latest COVID-19 wave would subside. So we will be stretched for time to organise the Ranji Trophy," a BCCI insider said on Thursday.
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The premier domestic red-ball tournament was supposed to start on January 13, but the pandemic turned worse at the start of the year. It forced the Board of Control for Cricket in India to postpone Ranji, Col. C. K. Nayudu Trophy (U-25 men’s) and the Senior Women’s T20 League.
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The BCCI is optimistic about staging the other major domestic tournaments, including the Cooch Behar (U-19 boys’) Trophy knockouts. "The other tournaments can even clash with the IPL if required, and we shall make every effort to host as much domestic cricket as possible,” added the source.
The BCCI authorities have informally told the associations to shelve the Ranji preparatory camps.
The Ranji Trophy final between Saurashtra and Bengal in March 2020 remains the last domestic First Class tie in India.
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