BCCI Tech. Committee fails to revolve Ranji Elite Group issue

Bangalore, Jun 4 (UNI) The Board of Control for Cricket India (BCCI) Technical Committee which met here under the chairmanship of Sunil Gavaskar failed to resolve the issue of pruning the Ranji Trophy Elite Group from 15 to 10.

Despite a marathon four hour long meeting, the Committee members failed to arrive at a consensus on the issue.

BCCI Secretary Niranjan Shah, speaking to reporters after the meeting, said the Committee which discussed in detail the recommendation of the Ranji Trophy Captains and Managers Conclave held recently, could not take a decision on the issue and the present set up would continue for the current season.

"We could not finalise the issue in this meeting. We will study the matter again and the Committee will decide after this season," he added.

BCCI Joint Secretary M P Pandov said it was felt that five teams going out of the Elite group was discussed in detail and the problems were highlighted.

Top BCCI sources said that five teams going out of the Elite group would have a strong bearing on the five states. "Not only the five states but the players will also stand to lose in respect of remuneration and other benefits. Hence we decided to discuss this in the next meeting".

The meeting, apart from the zonal representatives and Mr Shah and BCCI Treasurer K S Srinivasan, was attended by Committee Chairman Sunil Gavaskar and Chairman of National Selection Committee Dileep Vengsarkar.

Mr Shah said the Committee had recommended change the points format for Ranji matches to make it more competitive. From this season, the team winning on the basis of first innings lead would get three points from the earlier two and the losing side one. In case of a outright victory the winner would collect five points and the loser nil. The team winning by ten wickets or an innings gets one bonus point.

The Committee also could not finalise holding of a Twenty-20 National Championship this year due to a tight schedule. "The Fixtures Committee would look into it as there is no clear view at this meeting," he added.

The meeting also recommended holding of Duleep Trophy matches after the Ranji Trophy season. Duleep trophy was presently held during October.

The BCCI sources said the meeting had recommend the Board to have SG balls used in the domestic cricket with the Board's logo embossed on it. "We use 160 dozens of balls each season with six dozens supplied to each of the 27 state teams. These balls were only for Board's use and will not be available outside. It was also decided to recommend that the umpires officiating in the domestic first class matches watch the players practice for two days prior to every match," he added.

UNI