BCCI announces dates for India's 2021-22 domestic season

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced that the 2021-22 domestic season is set to take place from September this year. This is a huge step forward, given the setback India had suffered due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

The first tournament to be played this season will be the Senior Women's One Day League, which will begin on September 21. It will be followed by the Senior Women's One Day Challenger Trophy.

These tournaments will boost the pool of women's cricket and will give women's cricketers some much-needed game time. The Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy will be the next tournament that will start on October 20th and will conclude with the final scheduled for November 12th.

Ranji Trophy highlight in India's domestic schedule

One of the biggest blows to India's domestic cricket last year was the cancelation of the Ranji Trophy. However, the tournament is set to make its return this season but will only be played in a three-month window. It will begin from November 16, 2021 and will be played till February 19, 2022.

The domestic one-day competition, the Vijay Hazare Trophy, will be played in the February-March window and that would conclude a grand domestic season. Around 2127 games will be played in India's 2021-22 domestic season and the BCCI has assured it will take care of the safety of everyone involved.

Team India players and others participating in the IPL have contracts. However, those who are only dependant on the domestic games might have suffered financially last season.

Thus the announcement of the 2021-22 domestic season would have come as a breath of fresh air for a lot of domestic players. There is also talk of domestic players getting central contracts.

Only time will tell whether the contract system will be implemented on each and every one of India's domestic players.