Domestic Twenty20 tournament by March-April

The Indian board (BCCI) has decided to incorporate a Twenty20 tournament into the domestic calendar by the end of April, based on ICC rules and regulations.

"The venues will be decided by the Fixtures Committee, and the rules and regulations of the ICC will be implemented," Niranjan Shah, the BCCI secretary, told The Hindu after a meeting of the board's Technical Committee in Chennai.

The Twenty20 format will be similar to the Ranji Trophy one-day tournament. The top two teams from each zone will be divided into two groups of five to play in a round-robin league. The group leaders will meet in the final.

The Technical Committee also discussed playing the Ranji Super League semi-finals and final at neutral venues but decided against it. "Some [members] felt the home side shouldn't be denied advantage," said Shah. The matter will be discussed again at a seminar for first-class coaches and captains in March. A revision of the Ranji points system will also be discussed at the seminar.

But Shah confirmed that the Duleep Trophy and the Deodhar Trophy will be played at neutral grounds with high quality pitches. To ensure that pitches are not doctored in Ranji games, it was decided that from next season the Pitches Committee would monitor the preparation of the wicket for four days before a match.

The SG ball will continue in domestic cricket though the committee admitted that some improvements had to be made.