BCCI mulls scrapping New Year domestic fixtures from next season

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is considering scrapping of the matches that are played on December 31 and January 1. In a recent update, the board expressed its desire to ensure that no domestic or international fixtures are played on the new year. The primary reason for this has been the fact that the players do not get the chance to spend the special occasion with their families.

On this New Year, the Ranji Trophy final was played. Vidarbha registered their maiden Ranji Trophy title win in emphatic fashion against Delhi. The match had commenced on December 29 and went on until the new year’s day. Well, team Vidarbha could not have asked for a better start than this to their 2018. But, the board thinks the other way round.

The BCCI president cited that the players anyway stay away from their families for major part of the year. Hence, ensuring that they spend special occasions with them remains a top priority for the board now. The board has already ensured that there are no matches played on the festival days like Holi and Diwali in the existing setup.

“This needs to be addressed. The future tours and programmes committee will have to revisit this schedule. There shouldn’t be matches on these two days from the next season. The domestic players stay away from the families for much of the season. They need to be with their dear ones on such special days,” BCCI acting president CK Khanna told TOI recently.

Rewarding sporting wickets and best curators

Speaking on a different note, the BCCI Chief noted that the board is working on improving the playing conditions of the domestic fixtures. In a bid to get sporting tracks, the board is keen on rewarding the best pitches. A prize money of INR 10 Lakh will be given to the pitch curators for preparing sporting tracks.

“This is the reason why we thought of bringing in neutral curators. The curators deserve credit and it will be seen that they are duly rewarded,” Khanna quoted.

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