The Board of Control for Cricket in India also known as the BCCI is all set to commence the domestic first-class cricket championship Ranji Trophy from 13th January.
The teams will be divided into six groups following a five-day quarantine and two-day practice.
The matches will be played in Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Thiruvananthapuram, and Chennai.
Kolkata has been reserved for the knockouts that are scheduled to start on 20th February following another phase of five-day quarantine. The five-day quarter-finals are from 28th February to 3rd March, therefore, the semi-finals are from March 8th to 12th. The final has been scheduled for March 16-20.
The grouping has been divided into six sections, Elite A – E and the Plate group consisting of eight groups.
Elite A has Gujarat, Punjab, Himachal, Madhya Pradesh, Services and, Assam; Elite B has Bengal, Vidarbha, Rajasthan, Kerala, Haryana, and Tripura; Elite C has Karnataka, Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Maharashtra, and Uttarakhand; Elite D has Saurashtra, Tamil Nadu, Railways, J & K, Jharkhand, and Goa; Elite E has Andhra, Uttar Pradesh, Vadodara, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, and Puducherry and, the Plate group consists of Chandigarh, Meghalaya, Bihar, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Sikkim, Arunachal.
With a tough schedule, Ranji players will be looking to come out with proper fitness ahead of back-to-back matches.
There is also uncertainty whether the Ranji Trophy will be played this season at all because of the pandemic as it was cancelled last year as well.