IPL オークションはランジ トロフィーを台無しにしましたか? KKRとMPコーチは国内シーズンの分割に不満

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has made it clear: they value domestic cricket as much as international. A strong internal ecosystem is what breeds success abroad. It creates stronger bench strength and was the reason why the India cricket team has found success away from across formats in the last decade.

Last year the BCCI made a change in the domestic structure. The Ranji Trophy was divided into two halves (October 11 to November 16 and January 23 to February 2), and the white-ball tournaments, the Vijay Hazare Trophy and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) were placed in between. They came into effect last October. Not much was made of the structural change.

However, not that it has fully come into effect. There is criticism. Chandrakant Pandit, who has been Kolkata Knight Riders’ head coach since 2022 and also coaches Madhya Pradesh, finds the decision head-scratching worthy. From his point of view, the sudden shift in formats is difficult for coaches and players alike.

“I’m sure they must have given enough thought while preparing this schedule, (but) looking from the players’ and coach’s point of view, it looks a bit disordered playing red ball, then white ball, and again red-ball cricket,” Pandit told Hindustan Times.

He floated the idea that BCCI might want the white-ball tournament, especially the SMAT, to be held before the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction. It couldn’t happen this year since the SMAT started a day before the mega auction and the bidding wars clashed with the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. However, from next year, the mini auction will be held after the SMAT.

“There is no continuity. They (BCCI) may have some reason for it, so it is very difficult for me to comment. It could be because of the IPL auction (the T20 Mushtaq Ali and Vijay Hazare were held before that). But it has become very challenging for the teams,” he added.