‘Ranji Trophy split for IPL auction’: Gavaskar slams BCCI’s domestic cricket schedule

Gavaskar has criticised the decision to split the Ranji Trophy into two windows between October and March. (File/PTI Photo)

Legendary Indian batter Sunil Gavaskar has lambasted the scheduling for India’s 2026-27 domestic cricket season, highlighting a disregard for First-Class cricket and the Ranji Trophy in favour of auditions for the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction.

The senior men’s domestic season began with the Duleep Trophy tournament played over the last fortnight in Bengaluru and Chennai. It will be followed by the first leg of the Ranji Trophy group stages set to be played across the country between October 11 and November 5.

The tournament will then witness a break of over two months during which the limited-overs tournaments – Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20s and the 50-overs Vijay Hazare Trophy – will be played between November 14 and January 8, 2027. The white-ball leg will also coincide with the IPL auction for the 2027 season.

‘All for IPL auctions’

“After the league stage of the Ranji Trophy, there’s a gap of over a month for the white-ball tournaments, after which the Ranji Trophy knockout starts. The rhythm and momentum get destroyed.

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“Why is the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy not played till the quarterfinal, then a break for a few weeks, and then the semifinals and final, as it happens with the Ranji Trophy? It won’t be done because the auction for the IPL happens pretty soon after the tournament,” Gavaskar wrote in his Sportstar column.

The second half of the forthcoming Ranji season will commence on January 17, 2027, with the final set to be played from February 27.

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“How can a tournament be interrupted to accommodate a white-ball tournament? The Ranji Trophy national championship needs to be given pride of place again, rather than being pushed around here and there as it has been over the past few years.”

The BCCI opted the current format of fixtures for the Ranji Trophy since the 2024-25 season, citing harsh winter conditions in north India that disrupted several matches over previous years. In 2023-24, the tournament ran from January to March.

The former India captain forewarned that neglecting red-ball cricket will impact the development of top talent in the red-ball format.

“Ignoring domestic cricket to focus on international cricket will prove counterproductive in the end. Most importantly, if red-ball cricket is neglected, then the chances of producing top-class players will reduce considerably. Look at the current Indian teams, and you will find that just about every player has come through the fire of red-ball cricket. Red-ball cricket gives a grounding that white-ball cricket hardly ever does,” he added.