5 things to look forward to in the upcoming Ranji season

#3 A changed schedule

The players will finish the Ranji season first and then get into limited overs mode for the 50 overs and the 20 overs competitions

This season, the Ranji trophy will see its earliest final, which will be played between January 7 and 11 in 2017. Last season, what we saw was that the Vijay Hazare Trophy which is the 50 overs tournament, and the Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy which is the 20 overs tournament in India’s domestic season, were played before the final of the Ranji trophy, which took place in the last week of February 2016.

However, in this season, first the Ranji season will culminate on 11 January 2017 and then we will have the 50 overs and the 20 overs tournaments. The 20 overs tournament will also be changed to an inter-zonal league from this season.

This certainly makes a lot of sense as it’ll be easier for the players to adjust to different formats mentally. They will finish the Ranji season first and then get into limited overs mode for the 50 overs and the 20 overs competitions, which should mean that are better equipped preparation-wise for the rigours of the tournaments rather than having to switch from one mode to the other mid-season.