BCCI to mull on Bengal's idea of changing Ranji Trophy knockouts format from 2021: Report

The Ranji Trophy 2019/20 semi-finals have now been confirmed and the four semi-finalists are Gujarat, Saurashtra, Bengal, and Karnataka. However, teams and players have not been happy with the Ranji Trophy qualification rules as big teams like Mumbai, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, and Vidarbha have not even managed to qualify for the quarter-finals. The 2019/20 quarter-final showed some immense mismatches and had the heavyweights qualifying for the semi-finals with relative ease. 

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BCCI to make rule changes for Ranji Trophy knockouts?

The current rules have five teams qualifying from Group A and Group B, two from Group C, and the top team from the Plate Group. These eight teams make up the complete pool of the Ranji Trophy quarter-finals but the resulting competitions seem very one-sided and unfair. According to reports that have been surfacing, Bengal's head coach Arun Lal is aiming to make a suggestion to the BCCI to revamp the knockouts format for the tournament.

As per Lal's suggestions, the top four teams from Group A and Group B should qualify with the fourth team of both groups playing a pre-quarterfinal with the toppers of Group C and the Plate League. The winners of these matches should go through and make the final pool for the quarter-finals. Lal was very confident of his suggestions and even added that he would ask the BCCI officials for an explanation if they rejected his proposal. The Bengal coach even kept the yearly calendar in view and explained how the new format would only add a week to the Ranji schedule.

Arun Lal is likely to get backing for the same knowing that the BCCI President is none other than a Bengal man himself, Sourav Ganguly. The former India captain is said to be in good terms with Lal too.

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The two Ranji Trophy semi-finals which will be played now are:

• February 29 - Gujarat vs. Saurashtra - 1st Semi-final - Rajkot
• February 29 - Bengal vs. Karnataka - 2nd Semi-final - Kolkata

The final will be played from March 9 onwards.

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Ranji Trophy live streaming

The Ranji Trophy live streaming for the semi-finals will take place on Hotstar and Jio TV.

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