BCCI unveils calendar for domestic cricket: Kolkata to host Ranji Trophy final on March 16

The Board of Control for Cricket in India(BCCI) has released the fixtures for domestic tourneys on Monday, with Kolkata set to host the Ranji final on March 16, while the national capital Delhi will host the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy final on November 16. All matches across all the domestic tournaments will be played on neutral venues. The Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy is set to commence on October 27 while the Ranji Trophy starts on January 05, 2022. Meanwhile, the domestic 50-over tournament Vijay Hazare trophy will start on December 8 with its venue yet to be announced.

BCCI unveils fixtures for Domestic season

The Ranji trophy will begin after the teams complete the mandatory five-day quarantine with the matches scheduled to be held at Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Trivandrum, and Chennai. Kolkata will host all the knockout games that are scheduled to start on February 20. Meanwhile, the Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy will be played across Lucknow, Guwahati, Baroda, Delhi, Haryana, and Vijaywada. Delhi will then host the knock-out matches starting from November 16. The venues for the Vijay Hazare trophy are yet to be announced. The BCCI had earlier also announced that each squad for the upcoming domestic season will have a maximum of 30 members, out of which there would be a minimum of 20 players, while the number of support staff is capped at a total of 10.

The domestic season consists of six groups, which includes five Elite groups of six teams each and one Plate group that has eight teams in it. Domestic giants Mumbai, Karnataka, and Delhi are together in the Elite Group C which is the toughest group. Defending champions Saurashtra have been clubbed together with Tamil Nadu, Railways, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, and Goa in the Elite Group D. Meanwhile, Bengal, Vidarbha, Haryana, Kerala, Tripura, and Rajasthan find themselves in the Elite Group B. Meanwhile, the Plate group comprises Chandigarh, Meghalaya, Bihar, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Sikkim, and Arunachal Pradesh. The BCCI also announced that the Senior Women’s One Day tournament final and the Men’s Under 25 State A one-day competition final and will be hosted by Bangalore on November 20 and December 10 respectively. 

(With inputs from ANI and PTI)

(Image source: PTI)