The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has decided to switch back to the old home-and-away format for the Ranji Trophy knock-out games after experimenting with neutral venues for the last two seasons. This proposal, recommended by the technical committee after they met on Wednesday, wasn’t completely unexpected as several players, including Sachin Tendulkar, had expressed their reservations about playing important domestic games at venues where local interest was conspicuous by its absence.

Last season, Mumbai won the Ranji Trophy final by beating Uttar Pradesh at Hyderabad in front of empty stands. After the match, Tendulkar had said that he did not quite like the concept of playing at neutral venues. “Whenever a team plays, it should play in front of the crowd which is against them or behind them... even at the international level.”

Two years ago, when the BCCI had changed the format of Ranji knock-out games, it was seen as a move that would end the unhealthy trend of hosts preparing pitches that were overtly friendly to their strengths. Along with the roll back, the technical committee has tried to ensure that the old problems wouldn’t crop up.

“The technical committee approved the format for assessment of pitches for domestic tournaments,” a BCCI statement said, adding that the pitches for the knock-out games would be put under the charge of the BCCI’s Pitch and Grounds Committee member from the zone, though not one from the host association.

No foreign hands

In another decision, the committee proposed barring foreign players from all domestic tournaments, except the Indian Premier League. The BCCI had last year allowed teams to register one foreign player, who had played at least 10 Tests or 20 limited-overs internationals, in their sides. Last season, only Maharashtra fielded a foreign player — Bangladesh spinner Enamul Haque. Other foreigners to have featured recently in India’s domestic competitions were England internationals Vikram Solanki and Kabir Ali, both of whom played for Rajasthan in 2006-07. Haque, Solanki and Ali all failed to make a mark during their Ranji Trophy appearances.

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