Super League to be scrapped from next year

The BCCI Working Committee which met in New Delhi yesterday has proposed to make some changes in the structure of domestic cricket which will come into effect from next season after being formally approved by the technical committee of the Board.

The Ranji Trophy Super League, introduced in 1996-97, is to be dumped after four years of experiment and the competition will revert to the earlier system where three qualifiers from each of the zonal leagues go into a straight knockout involving seven prequarter finals, four quarter finals, two semi finals and a final. This arrangement will lop off 21 games from the now bloated competition and reduce the clutter in the domestic calendar.

It should now be easier for the Board to ensure that there is little conflict between domestic fixtures and international commitments, as AC Muthiah promised yesterday, so that the Test and one-day stars can turn out in full strength for their domestic sides. Indeed the Board is now going to make it mandatory for them to do so when free from national duty which should help avoid a repeat of the scenario where Anil Kumble and Rahul Dravid left Karnataka high and dry in the Ranji semifinal in pursuit of county assignments in England.

The Duleep Trophy will also be put through a time machine from next season with the former round robin format that operated briefly for three seasons from 1993-94 to 1995-96 being restored. The number of matches in the event thereby go up from a trifling four to an ample ten. Muthiah also declared that "we plan to hold competitive tournaments like Duleep Trophy, Irani Trophy and Challenger Trophy at the beginning of the season from October to November. These will form the basis of national selection and as I said, international matches will not clash with these."

In other developments, the Board has decided to introduce inter-zonal tournaments at the Under 14 and Under 22 levels in addition to the already existing competitions for the Under 16 and Under 19 age groups. The BCCI has also recognised Bombay Hospital as the institute where all players have to demonstrate their physical fitness. This should preempt them from producing dubious fitness certificates from elsewhere.

A case in point is Sadagopan Ramesh being selected for the 2nd Test against South Africa at Bangalore earlier this season on the basis of a fitness certificate signed by a Madras physician but having to drop out on the eve of the game because his thumb injury had not yet healed. Yesterday's meeting also mooted a graded and performance based payment for players but when it will see the light of day is anybody's guess.