Changes made to Ranji Trophy schedule

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Mumbai: Based on the recommendations from the technical committee, headed by former India captain Anil Kumble, Board of Control for Cricket in India has made some key changes for the upcoming domestic season. The Ranji Trophy matches will be played only during weekends and the gap between the fixtures will be four days after the third game the BCCI stated here on Tuesday.
For the last few seasons, there have been three-day breaks between the matches, giving less time to players especially fast bowlers to recover from injuries. Kumble had recommended the changes after the feedback received during the Captains and Coaches Conclave held here in March this year.
BCCI’s Tour Programme and Fixtures Committee that met here on Monday decided to implement the decisions taken by the Technical Committee which included every team will play four home and four away games in the Ranji league phase.
Based on the recommendations it was also decided that the Ranji knockout games will be played at venues to be identified by the Ground and Pitches Committee, in consultation with the Chairman of the Technical Committee.
The committee finalised the domestic cricket schedule for the 2013-14 season.
Defending champions Mumbai have been drawn with former champions Delhi and Punjab in Group A.
There will be total three groups with 27 teams in the fray. The detailed tournament schedule will be available on July 8.
The under-25 matches will start a day after the Ranji matches so that players who are not part of the playing XI in the Ranji games can play the under-25 games. SG Test balls will be used for Ranji Trophy and Under-25 matches while Under-16 and Under-19 matches will be played with SG Tournament Special balls.
In limited overs cricket, the knockout stages of Vijay Hazare Trophy and Deodhar Trophies will be played under lights.
There will be no bonus points in one-day games.
KEY CHANGES The gap between consecutive Ranji Trophy matches will be four days after the third game of the season.
All the Ranji Trophy matches have been scheduled to begin only on weekends.
The knockout stages of the limited overs Vijay Hazare Trophy and the Deodhar Trophy will be day-and-night fixtures.
The under-25 matches will start a day after the Ranji matches, so that players who are not part of the playing XI in the Ranji games can be featured in the under-25 games.
There will be no bonus points to play for in one-day games.
SG Test balls will be used for Ranji Trophy and Under-25 matches.
Under-16 and Under19 matches will be played with SG Tournament Special balls.
The women's senior tournaments (one-dayers and T20s) will be played on Elite and Plate group basis. Both these tournaments will be played in coloured clothing and with white balls.
In the Ranji league phase, every team will play four home and four away games.
The knockout phase of the Ranji Trophy tournament will be played at venues which will be identified by the BCCI's Ground and Pitches Committee, who will take the decision in consultation with the chairman of the technical committee.
Ranji Groups
GROUP A: Mumbai, Punjab, Gujarat, Delhi, Karnataka, Orissa, Haryana, Vidharbha and Jharkhand; GROUP B: Saurashtra, Services, Uttar Pradesh, Railways, Baroda, Madhya Pradesh, Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan; GROUP C: Hyderabad, Maharashtra, Andhra, Assam, Kerala, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Tripura.