Even as a revamped two-phased Ranji Trophy set to begin on Oct 11, the premier domestic tournament will have hardly any star power. The reason? BCCI’s scheduling gaffe. With India A tour of Australia clashing with Ranji Trophy apart from the Emerging Asia Cup now open to seniors, and the senior India Cricket Team playing back-to-back series, the red-ball domestic tournament will miss the star attraction. The likes of Sanju Samson, Shreyas Iyer, Prithvi Shaw, Suryakumar Yadav, and Shivam Dube among many others will be “unavailable”.
Many state associations, especially Mumbai are facing a selection crisis with a mass exodus of their star players. India A will tour Australia in late October while Emerging Asia Cup starts on October 18. India Cricket Team plays New Zealand in a three-match Test series while the T20 specialists travel to South Africa in early November before the mega Border Gavaskar Trophy. Hence, the majority of the star players will miss at least the first three rounds of Ranji Trophy 2024-25.
Ranji Trophy clash
- India vs Bangladesh 3rd T20I: Oct 12
- India vs New Zealand Test: Oct 16-Nov 5
- Emerging Asia Cup: Oct 18-27
- India A tour of Australia: Oct 31-Nov 7
- India vs South Africa T20I: Nov 8-15
- Border Gavaskar Trophy: Nov 22-Jan 7
Emerging Asia Cup
While superstars like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and others were expected to miss the Ranji Trophy, the likes of Shivam Dube, Riyan Parag, Ayush Badoni and Sanju Samson would also be absent. The Emerging Asia Cup was a U23 tournament last time out. However, from this edition, it is open to the senior players as well.
Sanju Samson, Riyan Parag and Shivam Dube among others are likely to play in the Emerging Asia Cup. It will force them to miss the first three rounds. A BCCI source confirmed to the Times of India that the selectors are looking to play a strong team in the Emerging Asia Cup with the T20 World Cup 2026 in mind.
“The board is looking into it. The senior selection committee will be picking the team for the Emerging team this time and they will be focusing on picking players who are T20 specialists, because of the T20 World Cup in 2026. Retaining the U-23 format would have allowed many senior players to play Ranji,” the BCCI source told TOI.
The senior India Cricket Team’s commitment and the important India A tour of Australia will also force most of the domestic stars like Sarfaraz Khan to miss the Ranji Trophy.
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