Ranji Trophy’s Home And Away Format Finds Support In BCCI Captain’s Conclave
May 24, 2017 at 1:05 PM
The Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) captain’s and coaches’ conclave in Mumbai has concluded with some good news for the domestic players as the majority of the participants have voted in favour of scrapping the neutral venue format in the Ranji Trophy.
The meeting was also attended by the senior BCCI officials along with the Committee of Administrators.
In the last season, the BCCI had conducted the matches at neutral venues instead of the traditional home and away format in a desperate effort to make India’s premier tournament more competitive by negating the home advantage.
However, the move did not go according to plan, as several senior players expressed their disappointed over it. More than half of the matches ended in draws, with many teams complaining not only about the quality of the pitches but also the umpiring standard.
But now that the majority of coaches and captains have urged the BCCI to bring back the old home and away format, the board is seriously considering doing away with the neutral venue format.
“An overwhelming majority (of captains and coaches) wanted to go back to the home and away concept,” a Ranji Trophy skipper was quoted saying by PTI.
On the other hand, Amitabh Chaudhary, the BCCI joint secretary, said that there was a support for both the formats but the board will take a final call only after the matter will be fully discussed by the technical committee.
“There were views supporting both the formats. Instead of making a calculation of how many people were on which side, what was done was that points made to substantiate a certain position on either of the two formats have been collated,” Amitabh Chaudhry was quoted saying by PTI.
“They will be brought to the technical committee and then put before the general body which will take a call,” he added.
Chaudhary further said that the officials not only discussed the Ranji Trophy matter but covered almost all the domestic tournaments in addition to playing conditions and the issues related to players’ welfare.
“The meeting lasted two hours and covered every aspect of the BCCI tournaments, particularly the Ranji Trophy. Even the Vijay Hazare (one-dayers) and Mushtaq Ali (T20s) were discussed. There was also a discussion on junior tournaments even though it was the Ranji captains and coaches conclave. Every tournament literally got covered,” Chaudhry explained.
“All aspects of the game, various tournaments, playing conditions and players’ welfare – everything was discussed,” he added.