BCCI gives Grade C central contracts to these two Indian Test players; takes action against state boards hosting foreign boards

India's young Test players Sarfaraz Khan and wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel were inducted into Grade C of the Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) annual retainership list of centrally contracted players. Sarfaraz and Jurel will get Rs 1 crore after they fulfilled the criteria -- to play at least three Tests  -- as mentioned in BCCI's media release.
 

The young duo's names were ratified during the BCCI Apex Council meeting in New Delhi on March 18. Both Sarfaraz and Jurel made their Test debut in Rajkot. They fulfilled the criteria in the Dharamsala Test.
 

Sarfaraz, Jurel impress in debut Test series

While Sarfaraz hit twin fifties on his debut, Jurel made headlines with a 90-run knock in the Ranchi Test which led to him earning the ‘Player of the Match’ award. They played a crucial role in India’s 4-1 Test series win against Ben Stokes-led England, especially in the absence of star players Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, and an out-of-form Shreyas Iyer. 
 

No Ranji matches in North India during winters

Meanwhile, the BCCI did not finalise the Ranji Trophy calendar for the next season. However, there will be no matches scheduled in North India due to fog and bad light. 
 

In the recently-concluded Ranji Trophy 2023-24 won by Ajinkya Rahane-led Mumbai, there were several matches where fog and bad light played spoilsport. Most of these matches were played in Delhi, Chandigarh, Kanpur, Meerut, Jammu and Dharamsala.

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New team in domestic cricket

A decision on BCCI will form a committee that will decide whether union territory Daman & Diu will get an associate membership or not.
 

State board to seek NOC to host international teams

In addition, a decision against state bodies talking directly to foreign boards as well. Now, the state boards will need an NOC from the BCCI to host any matches against any international team. 
 

The most recent example is Nepal coming to play a few T20 matches against Gujarat, Baroda which will be a tri-series called Friendship Cup before heading to USA and West Indies for T20 World Cup 2024. 
 

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