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Cricket
Ranji Trophy: new format only from 2003-04 season
By Our Special Correspondent
MUMBAI, JAN. 9. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has decided to preserve the status quo with regard to Ranji Trophy. The present (zonal and knock-out) format will stay till the 2002-03 season. The BCCI is likely to adopt the recommendations of its technical committee only from the 2003-2004 season.
Confirming this, BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya said from Kolkata: ``We have already conveyed to the associations taking part in Ranji Trophy that they would have to be ready for the change in order to make the national championship more competitive. The format will be the same next year (2002-03) too, but the points collected in the respective zonal tournament will determine the `top 10' for the new format that will come into effect from the 2003-04 season''.
BCCI's technical committee headed by Sunil Gavaskar has been successful in pushing ahead the new system to make the contest for the Ranji Trophy `a fight among equals' outlining the corollary `promotion and relegation' parameters. The new system, the majority in the BCCI believe, will be a watershed in the history of the championship which is well into its seventh decade.
The new format is very simple, with only ten teams being in the fray for the Ranji Trophy. The remaining 17, split into two groups, will be engaged in a competition, the winner of which will receive a silver plate or a trophy named after a cricketer the BCCI may deem deserving. The new format will also keep the players busy for close to seven months.
Mr. Dalmiya is confident of mustering support to get the technical committee's recommendations through at the Working Committee and at a general-body meeting. ``Contests should be keen and intense. It's all proposed with the ultimate aim of improving the standard of Ranji Trophy.''
Almost everybody in the BCCI seems to be receptive to the proposed changes in the format. But they are not going to have a free hand.
An unknown factor that has already started causing considerable concern to a few associations is the amount of money it will require to sustain their teams, especially those that are likely to figure in the second division. ``There's also the time factor. What if Goa has to travel to Assam, or Jammu & Kashmir to Kerala,'' asked a BCCI official.
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