CHENNAI: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has handpicked Coimbatore, Salem and Chennai as host cities for the Duleep Trophy, set to begin on September 8.
A recce team of the BCCI will carry out the inspections at Sri Ramakrishna Arts and Science College in Coimbatore on Tuesday before heading to Salem Cricket Foundation for the same on Wednesday.
The multi-day tournament, which has made a return to the domestic calendar after a two season gap, will be played in a zonal format contested by six teams – north, south, east, west, central and northeast — in a knockout format that includes quarterfinals, semifinals and final.
It is understood that the initial plans was to host the tournament in Lucknow or Vizag, but the BCCI wanted to take it to new cities and with monsoon expected to affect matches in the west and north, it eventually narrowed in on Coimbatore and Salem. “The BCCI has picked three venues for the five matches. The first match will take place at Chepauk before moving to Coimbatore, from where they will take the road to Salem for the semifinals. The plan is to host the final in Coimbatore,” TNCA secretary RS Ramasaamy told TNIE.
This is not the first time the BCCI has taken the Duleep Trophy outside of Chennai. In the 2018-19 season, Dindigul hosted the tournament which was the last to be played with the pink ball. With regards to Coimbatore and Salem, both the cities came on the cricketing map only recently as they hosted the Tamil Nadu Premier League matches last month, which were televised.
“The plan is to take the game to the new centres and when we looked at it, these cities very much fit the bill as they are very well connected in terms of air travel and hotels. Since, other venues are busy preparing for the domestic season, the BCCI felt Coimbatore and Salem will be ideal as the pitches and outfield are already in good condition,” a BCCI official familiar with developments told this daily.
Meanwhile, with regards to India A versus New Zealand A series in September, Lucknow, Vizag or Bengaluru could play host to it with the BCCI yet to shortlist the venue. There is a strong possibility that multiple venues will be included for the series and quite a few state units are understood to have expressed their interest to host the series.
TNCA First Division
The TNCA First Division matches for the 2022/23 season will begin on August 18 in Chennai. After initial plans to host the tournament in a four-day format, the TNCA after consultation with the teams and owing to a cramped schedule has decided to make it a three-day affair. By this the 12 teams will face each other in the league stages and first six rounds take place in August-September, before it takes a break for the domestic season.