Ranji games at neutral venues from this season

Bengaluru, May 29 

The BCCI technical committee, headed by former India captain Sourav Ganguly, has decided to conduct all Ranji Trophy matches at neutral venues from the coming season. The committee also decided to replace the inter-zonal system of the Duleep Trophy with four all-India level teams picked by the selection panel.

“To make domestic cricket more competitive and rule out the issues related to preparing specific wickets for home teams, as well as to expose players to different conditions, the BCCI technical committee recommended neutral venues for the Ranji Trophy matches,” said a press release issued by the BCCI.

It has been learnt that some members wanted to do away with the toss, a system being used in the English county cricket this season. As per this system, the visiting team is given the option of electing to bat or field to dissuade the home team from tampering with the wicket. The committee considered the suggestion but eventually decided against it.

“Home teams using pitches to their advantage has been a long-time complaint. There were two options — either to do away with the toss or go for neutral venues. A majority felt that playing at the neutral venue was a better option. This would ensure that curators won’t face pressure from home team captains to prepare a certain kind of wicket,” a member of the technical committee said.

The committee also discussed the format for the Duleep Trophy for the season 2016-17. It was recommended that the selectors would pick four teams to participate in a round-robin format tournament. The entire tournament will be a day/night affair, said the release.

With India playing as many as 13 Test matches at home against New Zealand, England and Australia this season, it was proposed that all Test hopefuls and the fringe players should get a chance to get used to pink ball, which is used in day/night matches— PTI