BCCI blue print for domestic season: Mushtaq Ali from December 20, Ranji from January 11

MUMBAI: Desperate to have some domestic cricket underway, the BCCI has sought its state associations' view on the structure of the curtailed season for which it plans to create six bio-secure hubs across the country between December and March.

In a letter to the associations, the Board has suggested four options on the conduct starting with having only the blue-riband Ranji Trophy.

The second option is conducting just the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament.


The third scenario is a combination of Ranji Trophy and Syed Mushtaq Ali while the fourth is a window for two white-ball tourneys (Syed Mushtaq Ali and Vijay Hazare Trophy).

As per the letter, which has been accessed by , the BCCI has also spoken about the potential windows for the events, proposing 67 days for Ranji Trophy (January 11-March 18).

The Mushtaq Ali Tournament will need 22 days (December 20 to January 10) while Vijay Hazare Trophy, if held, can be conducted between January 11 to Feb 7 --- a period of 28 days.

"Establishing a structure for a new competition during a pandemic has provided specific challenges for domestic cricket, most notably having the required medical personnel in place to handle stringent return-to-play protocols," the letter stated.

BCCI will create six bio secure hubs for the domestic tournament with 38 teams.

"The 38 teams will be divided into 5 Elite groups and 1 Plate group. The Elite groups will consist of 6 teams each while the Plate group will have 8 teams," it stated.

Each of the BCCI hub will have a minimum of three venues and the games would be broadcast digitally.

The Board recently conducted the IPL in the UAE in a bio-secure environment and President Sourav Ganguly has been insisting that even the domestic season, which usually begins in August, will go ahead at some point.