The newly constituted working committee of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for local cricket, would guarantee the interests of domestic cricketers are secured Financially, according to Mohammed Azharuddin, president of the Hyderabad Cricket Association.
Veteran India captain Yudhvir Singh (Central Zone), Devajit Saikia (Northeast Zone), Santosh Menon (South Zone), Rohan Jaitley (North Zone), Avishek Dalmiya (East Zone), and Jaidev Shah (West Zone) were all selected into an elected committee on Saturday (July 10). Besides the authority holders – BCCI president Sourav Ganguly, secretary Jay Shah, vice-president Rajiv Shukla, and treasurer Arun Dhumal – to look into national player remuneration and restart.
“We have to decide the way forward [for domestic cricket],” Azharuddin, who played 99 Tests, 334 ODIs in the 80s and 90s, told Cricbuzz.
“At this stage, I don’t have the agenda of the meeting and I cannot say anything. But one thing I am sure about is we have the best of domestic cricketers’ interest in mind. The players’ interest is always a top priority.”
A date for the meeting of the working group has not yet been decided but it is expected to take place soon though. “We have to make sure that domestic cricket gets going. As you know, last year we didn’t have a full domestic season, understandably for reasons well known to the world. We have to see how the situation pans out in the course of time.”
Azharuddin, who played 229 first-class games and 432 List A matches, said, “Last year, the BCCI was only able to organise white ball domestic events for senior teams due to the pandemic, which prevented the Ranji Trophy from being contested. The BCCI has created a thorough schedule for domestic cricket this year, with plans to begin as early as September.”
According to the BCCI’s press advisory, the campaign will begin on September 21 with the Senior Women’s One Day League and conclude on October 27 with the Senior Women’s One Day Challenger Trophy.
The coveted Ranji Trophy, which was cancelled last season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, will be played in a three-month window from November 16 to February 19, 2022. From February 23, 2022, through March 26, 2022, the Vijay Hazare Trophy will be held. Mumbai won the Vijay Hazare Trophy this year, and Tamil Nadu won the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in January 2021.