Revision as of 11:40, 24 February 2017

BCCI’s technical committee’s recommendations

The Times of India, May 30 2016

Home advantage in Ranji Trophy could be a thing of the past from the upcoming season as the Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) technical committee has recommended to hold the matches of its premier domestic championship at neutral venues.

The decision, taken during the meeting, will deny the home teams an opportunity to tamper with pitches according to their strengths. The Sourav Ganguly-chaired committee felt the concept would give domestic players experience in varied conditions. BCCI president Anurag Thakur and secretary Ajay Shirke too attended the meeting.

“In a bid to make domestic cricket more competitive and rule out issues related to preparing specific wickets for home teams, as well as to expose players to playing in different conditions, the BCCI technical committee has recommended neutral venues for the Ranji Trophy matches,“ the BCCI said in state ment.

In another major change, the Duleep Trophy will return to the first-class cricket calendar this season (2016-17) in a new avatar. The tournament, traditionally played by the five zonal teams, will be a four-team affair in the upcoming season. The tournament will be a daynight affair and will be played in a roundrobin format, the release stated. It is learnt that all matches will be played with kookaburra balls.

The technical committee's recommendations will now be tabled at the BCCI working committee for approval.

Meanwhile, the committee has cleared India A's tour of Australia in August.The team is expected to play two four-day matches and a tri-series. It has emerged that the board is likely to hold talks with New Zealand Cricket for an away series for India `A'.

In the National Cricket Academy committee meeting, the members were updated about the assessment of all the ongoing zonal camps in various age groups and the umpires' refresher course.Members were also briefed about the physiotherapist and trainers course to be conducted by the NCA next month.Physios and trainers of all the state associations will be attending this course.

2017: Gujarat beats Mumbai

Gaurav Gupta, Jan 15 2017: The Times of India

Ranji Trophy for Gujarat, January 2017; Gaurav Gupta, Jan 15 2017: The Times of India

When Gujarat's Chirag Gandhi smashed Mumbai pacer Shardul Thakur past point to the fence, he didn't just score the winning runs in the Ranji Trophy final-he also created history.

For the first time, Gujarat had clinched India's premier domestic championship. And that too vanquishing 41-time winner Mumbai, the most suc cessful team ever. The Davids had humbled the Goliaths.

Gujarat was playing a Ranji final after 66 years and the unthinkable was accomplished, primarily via skipper Parthiv Patel's brilliant 143 and middle-order batter Manprit Juneja's invaluable support act (54) as the team chased down 312 on Saturday , the last day of the match. Patel, who had hit 90 in the first innings, was declared the player of the match.

It is believed that Gujarat Cricket Association (GCA) boss Amit Shah was keenly following the score.

The redemption took a long time coming. In a case of tremendous irony , it was on this very ground, Holkar Stadium, that Gujarat lost the Ranji summit clash of 1950-51 to Holkar by 189 runs.

That Gujarat's finest cricketing moment came on the festive occasion of Uttarayan (kite flying), also celebrated as Makar Sankranti, made the triumph sweeter for Gujaratis. It isn't easy to beat Mumbai in a Ranji Trophy final. The last time the defending champions lost a Ranji final was almost a quarter of a century back in the 1990-91 season, when Haryana edged them out by two runs in a thriller.