BCCI ready to shift Ranji to neutral turf

For the first time in its 82-year history , the Ranji Trophy is set to be played at neutral venues. The revolutionary idea to do away with the home-and-away system, which saw a few teams doctor pitches to gain home advantage, received a thumbs up at the Ranji captains and coaches conclave of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Thursday here at the HPCA Stadium. It is now likely to be ratified by the working committee of the Board here on Friday .
The innovative idea was first mooted by BCCI's technical committee, which is headed by former India skipper Sourav Ganguly . In this new system, a team is likely to play all its games till the knockouts in a particular zone. The wickets at all the venues will be prepared by the curators appointed by the Board. "There's no harm in trying something new. It offers a different, exciting challenge to all the teams," former India stumper and Delhi coach Vijay Dahiya told TOI on Thursday.
"Playing on neutral venues is a good idea. You want every domestic player to be ready for international cricket," said India discard and Gujarat stumper Parthiv Patel after the conclave. "We will be taking the home advantage away but what we have seen last year in the domestic season isn't good for our cricket. When you go abroad or on tours you don't get to choose the conditions. It's a step forward in the endeavour to produce quality players," said ex-India seamer and current Vidarbha coach Paras Mhambrey.
The consensus was that the move should at least be tried for a season, and would help eliminate the possibility of teams churning out 'akharas' (rank turners), which saw many games finish inside three days last season in the Ranji Trophy ."It's not going to be completely viable option, but there's no harm in trying it for a year and see how it goes. At least we won't have matches which will get over in two-and-a-half days," felt Patel. "We need to implement this on a trial basis and see has worked positively . Home advantage is not being used in the right manner," Mhambrey agreed.
"The majority was in favour of it (neutral venues). We've to see the larger picture. There're pros and cons of everything and we've to find a balance," said Patel. While everyone felt that it would kill local interest in the Ranji Trophy , Patel said that it was concluded that it's not such a large issue, since "everybody was more or less on the same track about playing on neutral venues."
Apart from Ganguly , who missed the meeting (both were slightly late in arriving here), BCCI president Anurag Thakur and BCCI secretary Ajay Shirke too have backed the concept.