Indian team in Test cricket have been in superb form, in recent times and the Test team under the leadership of former skipper Virat Kohli and former head coach Ravi Shastri did a tremendous job to establish themselves as one of the finest teams in the longest format of the game.
Coach Shastri knows that performance in Test cricket cannot be improved if the domestic cricket does not function properly and to succeed in Test cricket, tournaments like Ranji Trophy must be taken seriously.
While, talking on this matter, Shastri called the Ranji Trophy as the “backbone” of Indian cricket. He also feels that Indian cricket “will be spineless” if the Ranji Trophy is ignored.
Shastri's tweet
“The Ranji Trophy is the backbone of Indian cricket. The moment you start ignoring it our cricket will be SPINELESS!" Shastri said in a tweet on January 28 (Friday).
Ranji Trophy could not take place in the year 2020 because of the Covid-19 pandemic. This year, the tournament was originally scheduled to start on January 13 but due to the rising cases of Covid-19 the tournament had to be postponed indefinitely. Along with Ranji Trophy, Col C K Nayudu and other tournaments had to be postponed or cancelled as well.
BCCI's new plan
On January 28 (Friday), the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced its new plans regarding this year's Ranji Trophy. It was announced that the event will be held in two phases. The first phase is scheduled to be comprised of all league matches. The second phase will have the knockout matches, in June.
BCCI secretary Jay Shah in an official statement said that the Ranji Trophy is the “most prestigious domestic competition” and it is important to take “necessary steps to safeguard the interest of this premier event.”
“The Board has decided to conduct the Ranji Trophy this season in two phases. In the first phase, we plan to complete all matches of the league stage while the knockouts will be held in June,” Shah said in the official statement.
“My team is working closely to mitigate any kind of health risk caused by the pandemic, while at the same time ensuring a highly competitive red-ball cricket contest. Ranji Trophy is our most prestigious domestic competition, which has been providing Indian Cricket with an enviable talent pool every year. It is absolutely important that we take all necessary steps to safeguard the interest of this premier event,” the statement further read.
