BCCI announces dates for smog-affected Ranji Trophy matches

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced the revised dates for two of the Ranji Trophy 2016-17 encounters. Ranji Trophy is the premier domestic cricket tournament in India. The tournament this season has already reached the 7th round. However, two of the 5th round matches had been abandoned earlier.

The matches were scheduled to be played at New Delhi. But the high rates of pollution and smog levels saw the conditions being unfit for the game of cricket. In a sad turnout of events, the first day of the match was called off. The second day saw no change or improvement. As a result of it, the BCCI had decided to call off the two matches.

As far as the venue of New Delhi is concerned, one can only hope for the pollution levels to stay in check in future. The conditions looked very bleak and awareness messages about smog control came in from all corners. Indian Test skipper had also come in with a special video message after the matches were called off.

Also Watch: Virat Kohli bats for pollution control in Delhi

The BCCI has now released the revised scheduled for the two affected matches. The matches will now be played from December 15 to December 18. The Group A encounter between Gujarat and Bengal will take place at Vizag. The second match, the one between the Group C teams – Hyderabad and Tripura – will be played at Kolkata.

The rescheduling of these matches has seen the subsequent knockout matches being postponed too. The quarterfinals will now be played from December 24 to December 28, 2016. The semi-finals will be played from January 3 to January 7 in 2017. The finals of the Ranji Trophy 2016-17 will take place on January 12 to January 16, 2017.

The BCCI also announced the revised date for the Irani Trophy 2016-17 season. The winner of Ranji Trophy 2016-17 will lock horns with the Rest of India for the Irani Trophy encounter from January 22 to January 26.

Revised schedule for Ranji Trophy 2016-17:

Quarter-finals: December 24-28, 2016

Semi-finals: January 03-07, 2017

Final: January 12-16, 2017

Irani Cup: January 22-26, 2017.