CHENNAI: “Important match, it's on TV,” used to be a common refrain among Indian cricketers not part of the national team, when Ranji Trophy matches were beamed live.
It's still to happen this year, as the first three rounds have gone without coverage. According to the BCCI, these matches will be beamed live later in the season. “Due to certain reasons Ranji matches this year are not live on TV yet.
But they will be, in the later stages. Broadcasters are committed to showing a minimum number of days of live domestic cricket a year. That will be met. We can't say right now when exactly, but there are a lot of matches remaining. There is time to have the number of days required,” BCCI president Anurag Thakur told Express on Wednesday.
The BCCI in 2006 took the decision to make it a part of the contract with broadcasters that a minimum number of domestic matches would be shown live every season. It was 72 days annually to start with and BCCI sources said this has been around 70 in the last few years. This season, 17 days of Duleep Trophy were live on STAR. In separate arrangements, the same broadcasters beamed live the Tamil Nadu Premier League and a pink-ball club match in Kolkata.
It's easy to see why Ranji isn't live. “STAR's own products like Indian Super League and Kabaddi World Cup are happening simultaneously with international cricket in India. You can't blame anyone if domestic cricket matches clash with India matches at home as broadcasters have to priortise,”said a BCCI source.
With the fifth and final Test against England getting over on December 20 and the visitors scheduled to go home for Christmas before returning for the limited-over leg starting on January 15, there is a TV window for Ranji semifinals and final slated between December 27 to January 11. Domestic one-dayers take place after that. atreyo@newindianexpress.com