BCCI planning domestic cricket from Jan 1, group-wise bio-bubble likely for Ranji Trophy

New Delhi: The much awaited domestic cricket season will start from January 1 with the Ranji Trophy, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly said on Saturday.

The BCCI Apex Council met on Sunday evening and a good amount of time was spent on discussing the domestic calendar which had been thrown in disarray by the surging cases of COVID-19 in India.

"We have had extensive discussions on domestic cricket and we have tentatively decided to start the competitions from January 1, 2021," Ganguly

said.

When asked if it would be a curtailed season or not, the former Indian captain said the board won't be able to accommodate all domestic

tournaments for practical purposes.

"We will certainly have the full fledged Ranji Trophy redball tournament. It will probably not be possible to hold all tournaments," Ganguly said, hinting that BCCI is eyeing the January-March window for Ranji Trophy.

To minimise travel, matches are likely to be organised in four different centres dividing the four groups (A, B, C and Plate). For example, Puducherry can host all teams in Plate Group.

"Puducherry has six grounds and have offered to host. It can host the Plate Group games while the other Groups can play in three different centres. The main motive is to minimise travel for players.

"Bangalore also has a lot of grounds so it can be one option and another option can be Dharamsala which has Bilaspur and Nadaun in its proximity," a BCCI official said.

With Ganguly's assurance, the state associations have got much needed clarity to prepare for the season.

With the COVID-19 situation affecting most parts of the country, most players are training on their own. Earlier this week, Uttarakhand became the first team to start training under one roof.