Ranji Trophy, the backbone of India's domestic cricket scene, is all set to begin from Thursday after an absence of a season due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Come Thursday, the sight of cricketers featuring in India's premier first-class competition with the red cherry would be a sight to behold.
Pushed from its original starting date of January 13 due to the third wave of Covid-19 cases in India, the stage is now set for Ranji Trophy to happen. Amidst a drop in cases, nine centres will host 57 league stage matches featuring 38 teams. The teams have been divided into eight elite groups and one plate group and will be staying in the bio-secure environment (bio-bubbles). The league stage will have just three matches for most of the teams, which means that there is very little margin of error in order to progress to the knockouts.
Senior Test batters Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane will be seen in action on day one of the Ranji Trophy when their respective sides Saurashtra and Mumbai squaring-off in Ahmedabad. The duo, under pressure due to a lean patch in Test cricket, will have to get big runs as the squad announcement for Tests against Sri Lanka in March is expected soon.
