Vijay Hazare Trophy to Begin in February, Ranji Trophy not possible this season

After the recently concluded Syed Mushtaq Ali Tournament, BCCI is all set to give a nod for the Vijay Hazare one-day cricket tournament, and it most likely to happen this month. Bangalore, Kolkata, Baroda, Mumbai and Indore have been shortlisted, along with one another city in Kerala, most likely Kochi to host the matches.

For women’s, the venues for the tournament is likely to be Pune, Vijayawada and Hyderabad. Certain Tier-II cities have also been approached by the BCCI for hosting the matches as these cities have good hotels, where bio-bubbles for the players can be created.

Similar to Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament, 38 teams would be divided into six groups, with each cluster playing at one city. The same would be done for the women’s tournament; there 37 teams in the women’s category. Most matches would be played in the day, but few centres have been asked to make arrangements for day/night matches too.

All the state associations have been communicated by the BCCI that no Ranji Trophy matches would be possible this year due to lack of sufficient window.