Karsan Ghavri: It's logical to drop Ranji Trophy

For the first time in 87 years the BCCI will not conduct Indias premier domestic cricket tournament the Ranji Trophy Instead the 50over Vijay Hazare Trophy womens oneday tournament and the U19 Vinoo Mankad Trophy will be played in the COVIDhit seasonThe Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament which concludes today was successfully conducted in a biosecure bubbleThe BCCIs decision was communicated to all state associations on Friday Although the letter did not mention when these tournaments will kick off it is learnt that the BCCI is looking to start them in midFebruary The Vijay Hazare Trophy and the womens oneday tournament will be conducted simultaneously according to BCCI secretary Jay Shahs letter to the state associationsKarsan Ghavri and J Arun LalThe Board had estimated 67 days to complete the Ranji Trophy The reason it has decided against it is because it would have left them with no scope to conduct other domestic tournamentsRelevant decisionWith the T20 World Cup to be held this year and an U19 World Cup next year the BCCI felt it was prudent to conduct a 50over and U19 tournamentsKarsan Ghavri who coached Saurashtra to their maiden Ranji title in 201920 agreed with BCCIs decision It is very logical Due to the pandemic it is important to see which tournament will be more beneficial or relevant Ghavri told midday on Saturday Five to six Ranji Trophy league matches of fourday duration can make the season really long Then in the knockouts each match could go up to five days There are 38 state teams and it is a very big taskSo I dont see anything wrong with BCCI deciding to do away with the Ranji Trophy this time Everybody is aware why it wont be played and we are getting a womens and U19 tournaments in that span of time which is absolutely fantastic added the former India pacerBig blow for cricketersJ Arun Lal who was Bengals coach when they lost to Saurashtra in the last Ranji final is concerned over the loss of income for Indias domestic cricketers with the Ranji Trophy not taking place We thought the Ranji Trophy would be played but COVID19 has taken a lot of things out of our lives We are all surprised and even shocked but we have to accept it For firstclass cricketers it is a big blowThey wont be able to showcase their talent and secondly their income will take a massive hit I hope the BCCI will try to compensate them appropriately The Indian team did very well in Australia and it is due to the Ranji Trophy said Arun LalThe BCCI at their recent AGM had decided to compensate firstclass cricketers if the Ranji Trophy wouldnt be held Its treasurer Arun Dhumal in an interview to PTI on Saturday assured that the earnings of domestic cricketers will be taken care ofGhavri also spoke about the difficulty for groundsmen To play six to seven league matches at one centre on the same pitch would have made it difficult for our groundsmen There would be hardly any time to prepare sporting pitches So in a way it is good that the Ranji Trophy is not conducted in such circumstances he saidMeanwhile Arun Lals challenge now is to shift the focus of his team to whiteball cricket since Bengal were practising with the redballAs far as Bengal cricket is concerned we were finalists last season We vowed to become champions in 2021 after we lost to Saurashtra We will now shift focus to the Vijay Hazare Trophy My message to the team is to look ahead and dont get disappointed said the former India batsman With inputs from Debasish Datta