Picture Credit: Twitter
The much-awaited Apex Council meeting of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) finally took place on Thursday in Mumbai. Multiple agendas were discussed during the meeting including the schedule and format for the next domestic season. And now, as the meeting has been concluded, it is reported that the next domestic season will kick off with Duleep Trophy.
It will be followed by Irani Cup in October. The Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy is touted to start from 11 October while the Vijay Hazare Trophy will take place in November. The domestic season will conclude with a full-fledged Ranji Trophy in February. The elite domestic tournament is also expected to return to its old format where a team is required to play seven league games.
With the COVID-19 pandemic wreaking havoc in the country, the Duleep Trophy and the Irani Cup have not taken place for at least three seasons, while the BCCI had to cancel the Ranji Trophy for the first time in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Last season, the BCCI held a curtailed Ranji Trophy season where Madhya Pradesh emerged champions for the first time in the tournament’s history.
Reports claim that the BCCI considered multiple options for the 2022-23 season with Board President Sourav Ganguly announcing that a full domestic season will take place in 2022-23. It further stated that the board has decided to host the Duleep Trophy and Irani Cup. “The Board is mulling to start the men's senior season with the Duleep Trophy, which is likely to be played from September 8. It is also considering to host the Irani Cup from October 1-5,” a PTI report said.
The format of the two tournaments is expected to remain the same though. Earlier, the Duleep Trophy used to be contested between five zones on a knockout basis but later it became a three-team affair with the top two sides advancing to the final after the round-robin format. In Irani Cup, the current Ranji Trophy champions take on the Rest of India squad.
Meanwhile, for the Ranji Trophy, there could be four groups of Eight Elite teams and one group of six plate teams. Thus, each team would get to play at least seven matches like earlier times in the Group stage. In order to win the Ranji Trophy, a team will need to play a minimum of 10 matches which makes the tournament more competitive.
Proposed schedule for 2022-23 domestic season
Duleep Trophy- 8 to 25 September
Irani Cup- 1 to 5 October
Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy - 11 October to 5 November
Vijay Hazare Trophy - 12 November to 2 December
Ranji Trophy - 13 December to 28 February