Sourav Ganguly, the BCCI President, on Saturday (October 17), said that domestic cricket season in India will "tentatively" begin on January 1, 2021."We have had extensive discussions on domestic cricket and we have tentatively decided to start the competitions from January 1, 2021," Ganguly told PTI following the Apex Council Meeting. 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 red ball 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.
The BCCI president also assured that the junior cricket and women’s tournaments will be held between March and April. “We also have elaborate plans for our age group and women’s cricket. We will start with Ranji Trophy and then we will also have the other tournaments between March and April,” he said.He also informed that the Indian team will be allowed to train in Australia during their quarantine phase. The Indian team is expected to play three ODIs, three T20Is and four Tests Down Under.On the home series against England, Ganguly said that the BCCI is monitoring the situation and the final itinerary will be prepared in due time.“The England series is good three and a half to four months away. We still have time. We are monitoring the situation which is pretty fluid and will take a call accordingly,” he said. While hosting the series in India (Ahmedabad, Kolkata and Dharamsala being likely venues) remains priority, the UAE is a second option.
