BCCI aims to increase prize money for domestic tournaments, Ranji Trophy winners

The BCCI intends to boost the prize money for its major domestic competitions, including the Ranji Trophy, whose winner will now receive a sumptuous INR 2 crore. The board’s staggering revenue of INR 48,390 crore from the auction of IPL media rights is said to have prompted the move.

The List-A event Deodhar Trophy was removed from the domestic schedule during BCCI’s latest Apex Council meeting on Thursday in Mumbai, among many other significant decisions. A full-fledged domestic season is set to take place in India which will include the Duleep Trophy and the Irani Cup alongside the regular Ranji Trophy, Vijay Hazare Trophy, and the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.

“We couldn’t find space with so many matches to be played during the domestic season which is scheduled to start from September this year,” a BCCI official was quoted as saying by The Indian Express. It is believed that the trimming was necessary because of a busy domestic season.

Sourav Ganguly, the president of the BCCI, presided over the meeting, which also included general secretary Jay Shah and treasurer Arun Dhumal.

In addition to the cash awards, the Ranji Trophy will once again feature Elite and Plate divisions. The 32 teams in the country’s top red-ball tournament will be split into four Elite groups of eight each, with the remaining six teams being put in the Plate group. The competition is scheduled to begin in December.

“The Apex Council has decided to give powers to office bearers to decide on the revised prize money,” the BCCI official said.

DRS system to be introduced in Ranji Trophy

The recently concluded Ranji Trophy tournament saw questions being raised upon the BCCI for not including the Decision Review System (DRS) in the mega event. The BCCI faced lot of criticism, and one of the officials even said that the board could not afford to bring in the DRS system which sparked more controversy given the amount of money earned by the board after the sale of the IPL media rights. In the recent developments, the BCCI is set to have DRS from the upcoming Ranji season.

“The BCCI has agreed in principle to have the DRS system in place for next season. If everything goes smoothly, the BCCI will have a DRS system for all live games,” a BCCI official further added.