This is the second time in two years that India's premier domestic event will see its format being tweaked.
The Indian cricket board has decided to do away with the controversial neutral venue system from the coming Ranji Trophy season 2017-18.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) technical committee, under the chairmanship of Sourav Ganguly on Tuesday decided to revert to playing home and away games as had been the norm for many years. The only change would be that there would be four groups instead of the earlier two.
This is the second time in two years that India's premier domestic event will see its format being tweaked.
The only new inclusion this year in the Ranji season is the team from Chhattisgarh, which will take the total number of teams to 28. These would be split into four groups of seven each, with top two teams from each group qualifying for the quarter-finals.
The BCCI, under president Anurag Thakur in 2016, decided to experiment with neutral venues. The reason then given for this switch was that "there were complaints about home teams doctoring the pitches".
This experiment failed to yield any desirable result as most of the venues failed to attract any crowd despite the fact that some of the teams were loaded with star players.
The neutral venues format got a thumbs down during the Captains Conclave in Mumbai earlier this year and it was clear that BCCI had no other choice but to revert back to tried and tested system.
It was also decided that the junior cricket league matches would also be played on home and away basis, but the knock-out matches will continue to be on neutral venues.
Indian domestic season will begin on October 6, with Duleep Trophy, set to continue with the pink ball, being the season opener. The venue and dates for this tournament are yet to be finalised.
How to divide groups
There seems to be a difference of opinion in how the four groups will be picked. When the BCCI got done away with elite and plate structure and started the group format, there were suggestions by various team captains that format should be tweaked in such a way that middle rung sides (formerly plate) be clubbed with top teams to make knock-out matches a lot more interesting.
"This was discussed even on Tuesday and that is why we have not decided on how the teams will be distributed. If we continue to have the plate teams in one group, when two of them make it to the knock-out stages it often brings one-sided contests. But if we can mix these nine teams (last season Group C) with the rest, it will make it for much better contest," an insider told DNA after the meeting.
A good news for all domestic players is that a revised pay hike for them is on the cards before the season starts.
Delhi to host Test & T20
It was also decided that Kolkata, Nagpur and Delhi will host the three Test matches against Sri Lanka during the November-December home series. The three ODIs against Lanka will be held in Dharamshala, Mohali and Vizag while the three T20s have been awarded to newly-accredited Thiruvanantpuram, Indore and Mumbai.
The season starts mid September with five ODIs against Australia slated to be played at Chennai, Bangalore, Nagpur, Indore and Kolkata. The three T20 will be held in Hyderabad, Ranchi and Guwahati. Newly-constructed stadium in Barasapara (Guwahati) has got lucky with a lucrative T20 game.
The series against New Zealand will start from mid October as Pune, Mumbai and Kanpur would host the ODIs. Delhi, Cuttack and Rajkot have been allotted T20s.
Though the official reason given for Sri Lanka tour advancement is that "Independence Cup" in the island nation in March, but as DNA had reported, the real reason was to skip Boxing Day Test in South Africa on other pretext.
BCCI has decided to announce the dates on some later day after discussing the logistics.
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