COVID Hits Domestic Cricket: BCCI Puts On Hold Ranji Trophy And Other Tournaments

The first round of Ranji Trophy 2021-22 was to start in multiple cities on January 13 but the tournament has been put off and the BCCI will deliberate on when to conduct the blue riband tournament some time later.

Outlook Web Desk

Updated on: 4 January 2022 7:02 pm

The BCCI on Tuesday postponed domestic cricket tournaments in India, including the country's premier first-class competition Ranji Trophy, in the wake of the rising COVID-19 cases. (More Cricket News)

Ranji Trophy 2021-22 was scheduled to start on January 13. The previous edition of the Ranji Trophy (2020-21) was canceled.

Besides Ranji Trophy, the BCCI also put on hold CK Nayudu Trophy and Senior Women’s T20 League for the 2021-22 season.

The board said in a release that it "does not want to compromise the safety of the players, support staff, match officials and other participants involved and hence, has decided to put the three tournaments on hold till further notice"

CK Nayudu Trophy was also scheduled to begin this month while the Senior Women’s T20 League was scheduled to commence in February.

"The BCCI will continue to assess the situation and take a call on the start of the tournaments accordingly," the statement continued, while also thanking "the healthcare workers, state associations, players, support staff, match officials and all the service providers who put their best foot forward to host more than 700 matches across 11 tournaments in the current 2021-22 domestic season."

Recently, the Bengal team reported six COVID-19 cases, including five players while Mumbai's India player Shivam Dube also tested positive and is in isolation.