India to host New Zealand, West Indies, Sri Lanka, South Africa in 2021/22 season

The Indian team will be hosting the West Indies, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and South Africa in four Tests, three ODIs, 14 T20Is later this year and in the first half of 2022. This information is according to the home season announced by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for the 2021/22 season. The Test matches will be played against New Zealand. India had recently recorded a defeat against the Black Caps in the final of the maiden edition of the World Test Championship (WTC), providing the Asian giants with an opportunity to get their revenge.

The home series against New Zealand will start with a three-match T20I series. It will be played from November 17 to 21 in Jaipur, Ranchi and Kolkata. The same will be followed by the opening Test which will begin on November 25 in Kanpur. The second game in the longest format will be played from December 3 in Mumbai. The West Indies will tour India for three ODIs and T20Is apiece, with the 50-over encounters set to be played from February 6 to 12 in Ahmedabad, Jaipur and Kolkata.

Neighbours Sri Lanka will take on India in a two-Test series, scheduled to start on February 25. The first Test will be played in Bengaluru while the second will be hosted in Mohali from March 5. Mohali will further host the first T20I against Sri Lanka on March 13. The second and third matches will be played in Dharamshala and Lucknow on March 15 and 18 respectively.

South Africa will take on India in a five-match T20I series that will be held from June 9 to 19. The matches will be played in Chennai, Bengaluru, Nagpur, Rajkot and New Delhi respectively.

BCCI’s apex council announces hike in domestic players’ match fees

Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Jay Shah has announced that the board is going to increase the match fees for domestic cricketers. Those who have played more than 40 matches will now get INR 60,000. Under 23 players will earn INR 25,000 and Under 19 cricketers INR 20,000. Senior men domestic cricketers used to earn Rs 35,000 per match-day for the Ranji Trophy or Vijay Hazare Trophy until now. Players in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy were paid Rs 17,500 per game. Reserves were paid half.

The BCCI recently decided to push back the start of the 2021-22 Ranji Trophy from November 16 this year to January 5 next year. This decision has been taken to ensure quality time for all 38 participating teams with regard to preparation for red-ball cricket. Several state associations requested more time to prepare for the first-class competition, which will now push the end of the tournament to March 20, 2022. The Ranji Trophy was shelved in 2020-21 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy will take place from October 27 to November 22

The first-class competition was earlier supposed to be held in a three-month window from November 16, 2021 to February 19, 2022. The BCCI has accommodated the 50-over Vijay Hazare Trophy during that period. This means both the senior men’s white-ball tournaments will be held before the first-class season. The T20 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy will take place from October 27 to November 22, with the Hazare Trophy being staged from December 1-29.

The women’s one-day competition will now begin on October 20. This will be followed by a four-team Challenger Trophy for women. The objective is to provide more game time to India’s top players as well as the fringe players with an eye on the 2022 women’s World Cup in New Zealand.

The domestic season will end with the CK Nayudu Trophy. The event is now an Under-25 tournament instead of Under-23. The move will especially benefit those players who lost out 18 months of age-group cricket because of the pandemic. This tournament will be played from January 6 to April 2.