BCCI secretary Jay Shah on Friday confirmed hosting the Ranjhi Trophy in two phases.”The Board has decided to conduct the Ranji Trophy this season in two phases. In the first phase, we plan to complete all matches of the league stage while the knockouts will be held in June,” Shah said on Friday.

He further informed that an analysis of the pandemic was being carried out by his team to mitigate all posible kinds of health risks.As per the new notice, the first phase will have all league matches, while the knockout games will be held in June. The 38 team tournament being split by IPL is expected to begin in the second week of February with the first phase continuing for a month.

Shedding light on the significance of the tournament, Shah said, “Ranji Trophy is our most prestigious domestic competition, which has been providing Indian Cricket with an enviable talent pool every year. It is absolutely important that we take all necessary steps to safeguard the interest of this premier event.”

This announcement comes a day after its treasurer Arun Dhumal had said that the Board intends to host the event. The event initially scheduled in January was postponed as the country entered the third wave of the pandemic fuelled by Omicron.It was for the same reason that the Ranjhi Trophy was cancelled last year.