Ranji Trophy to be held in two phases - BCCI

The knockout rounds of the Ranji Trophy will be held in June, 2022.

Saurashtra captain Jaydev Unadkat with the Ranji Trophy during the 2019-20 season. The Ranji Trophy hasn't been held since 2019-20 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Jay Shah has confirmed that the Board will hold the Ranji Trophy this year in two phases.

The first phase of the tournament will be held in February and March, before the Indian Premier League begins on March 27. The knockout phase will held in June after the IPL.

"The Board has decided to conduct the Ranji Trophy this season in two phases. In the first phase, we plan to complete all matches of the league stage while the knockouts will be held in June," Shah said in a statement.

Ranji Trophy is finally set to start around Feb 10. Hopefully the other domestic tournaments, age-group and women, will follow suit

— Amol Karhadkar (@karhacter) January 28, 2022

"My team is working closely to mitigate any kind of health risk caused by the pandemic, while at the same time ensuring a highly competitive red-ball cricket contest," the secretary said.

The tournament was initially scheduled to begin on January 13, but had to be postponed due to a spurt in COVID-19 cases.

"Ranji Trophy is our most prestigious domestic competition, which has been providing Indian Cricket with an enviable talent pool every year. It is absolutely important that we take all necessary steps to safeguard the interest of this premier event," Shah said.