Contrary to expectations, this wasn’t a path-breaking Technical Committee meeting of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The general belief that the Ranji Trophy format would undergo a significant change proved unfounded as the panel, under the chairmanship of Sunil Gavaskar, decided to maintain status quo for the time being.

The Working Committee had, at its April meeting in Mumbai, decided that from the 2008-09 season, there should be only ten teams in the Elite division.

After lengthy deliberations at the NCA on Monday evening, the Technical Committee decided that at least for this season, they would stick to 15 Elite teams, the reasoning being that it wouldn’t be fair to relegate five teams to the Plate division without giving them advance notice.

BCCI joint secretary MP Pandove said, “The basic proposal was to have ten teams in the Elite division, but we are not in a position to work out how to go about it just at the moment. So the Technical Committee has decided to recommend to the Working Committee that for the season to unfold, we will stick to the old system, and try in the meanwhile to arrive at a formula through which we can have ten Elite teams for the following season.

“We deliberated at length on this issue, exchanged views. This is the first time the senior selection committee has been represented at the Technical Committee meeting,” added Pandove, referring to the presence of chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar.

The only significant recommendations the panel has made is to marginally alter the points system for the Ranji Trophy, and to push the Duleep Trophy back to the end of the season. “Till now, the Duleep Trophy used to be staged in October, now we will hold it after the Ranji Trophy,” Board secretary Niranjan Shah said.

Points system
“As for the Ranji points, in a drawn game, the team taking the first innings lead will get three points and the team conceding the lead will obtain one, as opposed to two and zero points respectively as of now. In a decisive match, the winner will get five points and the loser none, with the winning side standing to gain a bonus point in the event of victory by an innings or ten wickets.” Previously, while the bonus point was on offer, teams got only four points for an outright win.

In case of a game ending in a tie, the teams will get two points apiece, while if the teams are tied on the first innings in a drawn encounter, they will get a point each. No points will be awarded for a game where not even both the first innings are completed.

Shah added that it would be up to the Programmes & Fixtures Committee to fit the national Twenty20 competition in in the crowded domestic calendar.

“We held the event in April with an eye on the Twenty20 World Championship in South Africa in September,” Shah continued.

“It is difficult to find a slot in the season ahead, we have left it to the Fixtures Committee.”

The Technical Committee’s recommendations await ratification at the Working Committee meeting in New Delhi on June 12.