The 2021-22 edition of the Ranji Trophy will finally get underway on February 16 which will be divided into two phases. The first phase will be played before the 2022 edition of the IPL and the second phase will commence after the end of IPL 2022. The premier domestic event was postponed due to the rising number of covid cases across the country caused by the omicron variant.
Earlier, BCCI Treasurer Arun Dhumal had confirmed that the board is planning to conduct the Ranji Trophy in two phases. He asserted that the board is doing everything in its power to organize the tournament this year.
The BCCI has picked nine venues for the Ranji Trophy eight venues will host eight Elite Groups consisting of four teams each, while the ninth venue will host six teams in the Plate Group. The venues for the Ranji Trophy will be Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Guwahati, Trivandrum, Cuttack, Baroda, Ahmedabad, and Rajkot. As per the earlier format, the venues for the Ranji Trophy stay neutral.
Groups and format of the Ranji Trophy are to be announced on Tuesday
“The groupings and format of the Ranji Trophy should be announced by the BCCI by Tuesday. While finalizing the venues, the idea was to look for ‘green zones’ (that are Covid free) and cities that have more than one ground that can stage first-class games. The players are supposed to go in a bio-bubble from February. They will quarantine for five days, before practicing two days prior to the match” a reliable source in the BCCI told TOl.
In the Elite Group, the top side in each pool (eight teams overall) will progress to the next stage, which will be a Super League or the knockouts, and will be played post the IPL. The Plate Group will involve six teams playing each other. The top two teams in this group will be promoted to the Elite Group next year. After the league stage, the teams take a break for the IPL, which will kick off on March 27.
Highlights:
• Ranji Trophy to begin from 16 February.
• Ranji Trophy to be played in two phases this year- pre and post IPL.
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