The 2020–21 Ranji Trophy was scheduled to be the 87th season of the

Ranji Trophy The Ranji Trophy is a premier domestic first-class cricket championship played in India and organized annually by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The teams representing regional and state cricket associations participate. BCCI ...

, the premier

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

tournament in India. Saurashtra were the defending champions. However, in January 2021, the

Board of Control for Cricket in India The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is the principal national governing body of the sport of cricket in India. Its headquarters are situated at the Cricket Centre in Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. BCCI is the wealthiest governing body ...

(BCCI) confirmed that the season had been cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. It was the first time since the tournament's inception in the 1934–35 season that the Ranji Trophy was not held.

Background

Before the COVID-19 pandemic started, a change to the format of the tournament was submitted to the BCCI, splitting the elite teams into five groups, instead of three, therefore reducing the number of matches. However, in June 2020, the BCCI denied that any changes to the tournament's structure would be taking place. Also in June,

Rahul Dravid Rahul Dravid (; born 11 January 1973) is a former cricket player, ex-captain and ex-coach of the Indian national cricket team. Known for his outstanding batting technique, Dravid scored 24,177 runs in international cricket and is widely re ...

, the head of cricket at the

National Cricket Academy The National Cricket Academy (NCA) is a cricket facility of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in Bengaluru, India, for the purpose of developing young cricketers who have been identified as having the potential to represent the I ...

, suggested that the Indian domestic season could start later or be shortened due to the pandemic. On 19 July 2020, the

Times of India ''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by the Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...

reported that the Ranji Trophy would be the only senior domestic cricket tournament to be played in the Indian 2020–21 cricket season, with teams split into five zones, North, West, South, East and Central. In August 2020, the BCCI confirmed that hosting the Ranji Trophy was "a priority". The following month, the BCCI warned that the domestic cricket season could be severely curtailed due to the pandemic, including the possibility of no cricket taking place. In December 2020, the BCCI confirmed the dates of the 2020–21 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, with a decision on the Ranji Trophy due after the completion of the group stage of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Originally, the tournament was scheduled to start on 1 January 2021. However, the start was delayed, with the BCCI looking to begin a reduced competition from February 2021. On 30 January, the BCCI cancelled the 2020–21 Ranji Trophy season, but gave the go-ahead for the 2020–21 Vijay Hazare Trophy to take place. An estimated 800 cricketers were impacted by the cancellation of the tournament, with each player due to be paid R140,000 per match.

References

2020 in Indian cricket 2021 in Indian cricket

Domestic cricket competitions in 2020–21 Ranji Trophy seasons {{Indian-domestic-cricket-competition-stub

Background

See also

References