No Plate, Elite class in Ranji Trophy

Diana Edulji

Contrary to the idea of going back to the Plate and Elite divisions of the Ranji Trophy which was mooted during the requisition Special General Meeting of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) held in New Delhi recently, the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) have decided to have an additional group to the premier first-class tournament.

The decision to have Group D was taken during the CoA meeting held yesterday at the BCCI headquarters. The Ranji Trophy already has A, B and C groups which is played on home and away basis with neutral curators in charge of pitch preparation. The BCCI members felt the need to go back to the Plate and Elite divisions to accommodate new states in the fold, following a Supreme Court order.

However, the CoA has decided to include the new teams in Group D, mid-day has learnt. It will also have a team from Uttarakhand which the BCCI had not passed in their SGM. The NorthEastern states teams along with Bihar will be part of the D group. Details of relegation and promotion of teams in the Ranji Trophy will be out when the complete list of all tournament fixtures is released within a couple of days.

The CoA's decision is a clear indicator that the SC-appointed body, authorised to manage the affairs of the Indian cricket board, has not paid any heed to the decisions taken by the BCCI members in their SGM as it did not have the CoA's green signal.

Meanwhile, CoA chief Vinod Rai and member Diana Edulji yesterday met the Indian women's cricket team's captains Mithali Raj (ODI) and Harmanpreet Kaur (T20Is) who expressed their views on coach Tushar Arothe. It is learnt that the players are not happy with Arothe. Team manager Trupti Bhattacharya was also at the meeting. The coach though was not invited.

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