Cooch Behar Trophy put on hold, BCCI hopes to resume Ranji by February end

Express News Service

CHENNAI: The third wave of the pandemic continues to disrupt domestic cricket. The Under-19 Cooch Behar Trophy, the lone tournament that looked set to go ahead, was postponed indefinitely on Monday after it emerged that there was at least one Covid positive case in each of the eight teams in the quarterfinals.

With all other domestic tournaments already suspended till further notice, there are growing concerns amongst the stakeholders that not all events will resume. The BCCI officials had a meeting on Monday and according to sources, the board has been told not to rush ahead with any decision because of the third wave which is expected to peak in the coming weeks.

“It is hard to commit to anything at the moment,” a top board official said. “We are monitoring the situation on a weekly basis and once the Covid breached the bubble in Pune (Cooch Behar) it was going to be impossible to continue with the tournament,” the official said.

Moreover, to host the remaining matches across all tournaments, the BCCI also needs to use the resources of the frontline workers, which the board feels isn’t right given the surge in Covid cases in each of the big cities.

“We have to consider a lot of factors and the reason why we felt a break is necessary is because at this moment, whether vaccinated or not, travel is a potential high risk. Had the teams assembled at respective host venues, we could have still carried on,” the official stated.

There is acceptance in the board corridors that in case it fails to host the Ranji Trophy for a second successive year, their intentions will be questioned. In fact, there have already been murmurs about it, but the board officials maintain hosting the four-day format still remains a priority.

“The test positivity rate in each big city is increasing, so the immediate few weeks are ruled out. If by February mid, the cases start to come down, then the state units will also be able to put a team together and get things in motion,” the official added.

With the BCCI already making it a curtailed edition with each team playing only five league matches in the group stages, it technically needs around 35 days. With the IPL set to resume in April first week and players joining the bubble by March 25, the BCCI is looking to start the Ranji Trophy by February-end.

“For the Ranji Trophy to go ahead, it needs to start by February end so that we can complete the knockout stages in June after the IPL gets over. The starting date is the key. If we can’t resume it by February end, then there is little hope because, in June-July we can host matches only in Chennai and Andhra (monsoon),” the official added.