Ranji Trophy: Teams asked to limit squad size to 30, Round 1 from Feb 17

Round 1 of the Ranji Trophy would be held from February 17-20 and all teams will assemble at their base venues on February 10. The second round will go ahead from February 24-27 while the third round will go ahead from March 3-6. On Tuesday, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) sent out Ranji Trophy staging guidelines to all nine host associations. 

The document which is in possession of ANI states that the players and support staff will have to undergo five-day quarantine before starting their training for the tournament. Every team has been asked to keep the squad size to 30 which is inclusive of the support staff. The teams have also been asked to have a minimum of 20 players in the squad and the board has also allowed the states to carry two reserves looking at COVID-19. 

All the teams have been asked to report at their base on February 10 and then they have to undergo a five-day quarantine. After testing negative for COVID-19, teams can train on February 15 and 16. The quarantine period for pre-quarters will be from March 7-10 and the pre-quarterfinal clash would be played from March 12-16. "Each squad can have a maximum of 30 members comprising a minimum of 20 players. Accordingly, the number of support staff is capped at a total of 10. Each team is encouraged to have a team physician to manage COVID related issues," BCCI's guidelines state.

"However, the teams are permitted to carry two extra players as COVID reserves. In case, where a Team India cricketer is deputed by the BCCI to participate in domestic cricket, he will be eligible for match fee over and above the 20 players based on his Playing XI and non-Playing XI status in the matches," the regulations added. Talking about match fees, BCCI guidelines say: "20 players will be eligible for match fees (playing XI will be eligible for 100 per cent while the remaining 9 will be entitled to 50 per cent). Earlier, it was confirmed that the Ranji Trophy would be held in two phases and the pre-Indian Premier League (IPL) phase would run from February 10 to March 15. The post-IPL-phase would run from May 30 to June 26. The Ranji Trophy this season would see 64 matches being played across 62 days. There are eight Elite Groups and one Plate Group. There would be four teams in Elite Groups and six teams would make up the Plate Group. One team from each Elite Group will qualify for the quarterfinal stages. The lowest-ranked of the eight qualified teams will have to play a pre-quarterfinal with the top team from the Plate Group. 

Elite Group A: Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, and Meghalaya (Matches to be held in Rajkot) 

Elite Group B: Bengal, Baroda, Hyderabad, Chandigarh (Matches to be held in Cuttack)

Elite Group C: Karnataka, Railways, Jammu and Kashmir, Pondicherry (Matches to be held in Chennai)

Elite Group D: Saurashtra, Mumbai, Odisha, Goa (Matches to be held in Ahmedabad)

Group E: (Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Services, and Uttarakhand), 

Group F: (Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, and Tripura), 

Group G: (Vidharbha, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Assam), and 

Group H: (Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand, and Chattisgarh) will see their matches being played in Trivandrum, Delhi, Haryana, and Guwahati. While the Plate Group matches will be held in Kolkata and this group comprises Bihar, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Sikkim, and Arunachal Pradesh.