Board of Cricket Control India (BCCI) are making some big decisions in an attempt to revamp domestic cricket in the country as they are bringing big changes to the premier domestic competition Ranji Trophy.
The board has recently approved the Sourav Ganguly’s idea of playing the Ranji matches in neutral venues and to achieve this target the board has now decided to increase the number of members in the grounds and pitches committee from the existing 10 to 27 on Monday.
The move is made in order to make the grounds competitive in lesser time as the new Ranji season this year is set to have 28 teams for the first time in the competition’s history and would have more matches than any previous years.
It would be impossible for BCCI to manage such a big competition if they have stuck to their previous 10 men policy as it would be difficult to get the grounds ready in time.
It is also understood that the curators would be given highest priority at their home venue in preparing the pitches for the games. But they could be shuffled across to other venues after certain time as they garner more experience.
“A roster has been prepared and already distributed to all the curators. The board is hopeful that the neutral venue concept will work well,” a top BCCI offical told TOI. The competition will have 28 teams which would see them play more matches than last year when BCCI conducted 128 Ranji games.
However, with India set to play a long home season in tests, the board has decided to increase the number of curators and also have shortlisted 40 venues across the country for the Ranji season this year. The move would be welcome by all the people involved as better pitches help for better Ranji games which would in turn reflect in the quality of cricket being played around the country.