Ranji Trophy | JKCA unable to hold the games in Kashmir, BCCI shifts all matches out of Valley

The BCCI CEO, Rahul Johri confirmed that the board wrote to the state body and made it clear that it will take care of its ‘domestic’ needs. The JKCA official, Iqbal Shah, told Mirror about receiving communication from the BCCI about this arrangement. J&K were all set to play three Ranji games at home – with Gujarat from October 4, with Kerala from November 1, and with Haryana from November 17. Moreover, over half a dozen age group games have been shifted as well.

Moreover, the BCCI has agreed to handle the logistics of the state teams and collected the account numbers of each player in order to transfer their daily allowances, match fee, and outstanding dues. Around Rs. 1.5 crore is to be either transferred or has been transferred. Iqbal Shah claimed that there is a combination of factors behind the inability of the state body to host games. 

“The pitches here are not in a proper shape because of the continued bad weather. And then we don’t have enough money in our coffers to afford anything,” said the JKCA official to Bangalore Mirror.

The J&K team is a part of Group B of the Ranji Trophy with Jharkhand, Saurashtra, Kerala, Haryana, and Rajasthan being the other sides. In the meantime, the BCCI informed Cricket Australia (CA) that the transfer of daily allowances of the Australian players will be done by BCCI and transfer will be made directly to the CA account. Board has decided that money would be paid in one go instead of giving cash to the manager, which used to be the usual practice.

The Australian players generally get $75 a day, whereas the Indian players are paid $ 125 daily and the board transfers the allowances directly to the players’ accounts.