The upcoming edition of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy will start on October 27, 2021, and will run until November 22, 2021, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has issued a new itinerary on Thursday, August 19.
According to the previous schedule released by BCCI, the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy was scheduled to be held between October 20 and November 12.
"The BCCI is working very closely with the government of India, state regulatory authorities, and other relevant stakeholders to ensure that our sport achieves a collaborative solution. With this, there is a combined objective for a complete BCCI domestic cricket season 2021-22 to be played, enabling us to maintain the integrity of each competition,” BCCI secretary Jay Shah said in a letter to state bodies.
“The restart date for BCCI domestic cricket season 2021-22 has been reviewed with all stakeholders, as the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic develops and we work together through this very challenging time. The BCCI will proceed with the full season of domestic cricket starting with Under-19 tournaments (both categories) in September 2021,” he added.
The domestic Twenty20 cricket championship will feature 149 matches. The latest Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy will have teams divided in five groups, down from the six in the last edition. Three of those groups will have eight teams while two will have seven teams.
Earlier, the Indian cricket board had confirmed that a total of 2,127 domestic games will be played in the 2021-22 season which includes Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, Ranji Trophy, Vijay Hazare Trophy and other domestic tournaments across various age groups.
The governing body also confirmed that the likes of the Irani Cup, Duleep Trophy and Deodhar Trophy have been cancelled.
What happened in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2020-21?
The 2020-21 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy saw Tamil Nadu beating Baroda by seven wickets in the final. Led by Dinesh Karthik, Tamil Nadu topped their Group B before beating Himachal Pradesh in the quarter-finals and Rajasthan in the semi-finals.
In the final of the T20 tournament, Manimaran Siddharth starred by restricting Baroda to 120/9. The bowler picked four important wickets and ended with an economy of five runs per over.
Featured photo: Twitter / Team Kolkata
