ApurbSSJ
Core Member
In a bid to add more meaning to Syed Mushtaq Trophy, India's domestic Twenty20 (T20) tournament, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has decided to act on a proposal of making it an inter-zonal competition.
The revised set-up will have state teams playing each other at a zonal level with the best teams from each zone qualifying to the next round. Apart from having the five zones - East, West, North, South and Central - participating in the tournament, a team comprising the best young players from across the country will also participate in the tournament.
The current format works on the basis of teams from across the country being divided into groups of four with two best teams from each group progressing to the next round.
Anurag Thakur, BCCI President confirmed the development to PTI and said, "We discussed the issue at length during our fixtures committee Meeting. The endeavour is to make domestic cricket more engaging and viable. With 1882 playing days, the BCCI has shown how serious we are about our domestic structure."
The move comes at the back of some other radical reforms BCCI made in order to add more value to other domestic competitions as well.
"We have decided to have Ranji Trophy at neutral venue, Duleep Trophy with pink ball and now we are trying to make Mushtaq Ali more competitive by bringing in a zonal structure. The aim is to improve the quality of domestic cricket. We are trying to finalise details and senior officials will be putting a process in place," Thakur added.
The BCCI also plans to schedule Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in a way that Indian Premier League franchises get ample time to assess the performance of the players.
Source:Syed Mustaq Ali Trophy set to become a zonal affair | Cricbuzz.com
The revised set-up will have state teams playing each other at a zonal level with the best teams from each zone qualifying to the next round. Apart from having the five zones - East, West, North, South and Central - participating in the tournament, a team comprising the best young players from across the country will also participate in the tournament.
The current format works on the basis of teams from across the country being divided into groups of four with two best teams from each group progressing to the next round.
Anurag Thakur, BCCI President confirmed the development to PTI and said, "We discussed the issue at length during our fixtures committee Meeting. The endeavour is to make domestic cricket more engaging and viable. With 1882 playing days, the BCCI has shown how serious we are about our domestic structure."
The move comes at the back of some other radical reforms BCCI made in order to add more value to other domestic competitions as well.
"We have decided to have Ranji Trophy at neutral venue, Duleep Trophy with pink ball and now we are trying to make Mushtaq Ali more competitive by bringing in a zonal structure. The aim is to improve the quality of domestic cricket. We are trying to finalise details and senior officials will be putting a process in place," Thakur added.
The BCCI also plans to schedule Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in a way that Indian Premier League franchises get ample time to assess the performance of the players.
Source:Syed Mustaq Ali Trophy set to become a zonal affair | Cricbuzz.com