'It's time to play the Ranji Trophy again for India's middle-order duo': Sourav Ganguly

In Indian cricket, the Ranji Trophy will return after a two-year absence. The BCCI must have found scheduling India’s premier First-Class domestic competition quite challenging – the first phase will begin later this month and the knockout stage after the IPL. Yet the BCCI has managed to pull it off.

Domestic players have been financially and professionally hampered by the development. Indian cricket has produced many superstars through the Ranji Trophy, and while the coming season will offer another platform for Indian cricket to flourish, it may also provide an opportunity for veteran cricketers to regain their form. To that end, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly believes it may be in India’s best interests for Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane to revert to playing Ranji Trophy and getting more runs. In recent months, Pujara and Rahane have struggled with their averages dropping and impactful scores few and far between. While it was challenging to figure out a window for staging the Ranji Trophy amid the Covid-19 pandemic, Ganguly expressed satisfaction that it all worked out.

”We missed the 2020-21 Ranji Trophy season. We have always wanted to organize it, as it is India’s most prestigious tournament. However, I do not believe the world has seen anything like what we have seen in the last two years. It was actually a challenge to organize any tournament when all these things were taken into consideration,” the BCCI chief concluded.