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A slew of changes to nurture quality

Special Correspondent

The Group I, Division II league will now have two-day matches

BANGALORE: The Karnataka State Cricket Association is keen to nurture quality players who will serve it for a long time.

A slew of changes were made in the structure and scheduling of local tournaments. The Group I, Division II league championship will now have two-day matches and not the 50-over affairs.

The KSCA tournament and fixtures committee chairman, Venkatesh Prasad, announced the new initiatives here on Saturday. “We noticed that the BCCI tournaments would be over but we would still be playing our leagues. So, we decided to schedule our tournaments in such a way that the selectors had ample time to pick the right players for the Board-conducted events,” Prasad said. The committee members, Vijay Bharadwaj and J. Abhiram, nodded in approval at this suggestion.

Incidentally, Rahul Dravid mooted the idea about stretching the Division II format.

“We noticed that we have been producing a lot of players with the ‘one-day' mindset. We see no short-leg or silly point if a spinner is bowling and no slip or gully if a pacer is operating.

“Similarly, we don't have many batsmen capable of grinding the attacks. This is clearly the effect of too many one-day matches. In fact, Rahul came up with the suggestion to change the format and we found it ideal,” Prasad added.

New format

The committee has also decided to scrap the Diamond Jubilee tournament with its two-day format. The event will now be named the Safi Darashah tournament and will include four-day games.

The KSCA is hoping to get a foreign squad besides five domestic teams and three Karnataka sides. Ranji Trophy champion Rajasthan has confirmed its entry.

The other changes include reverting the S.A. Srinivasan memorial Trophy to its earlier under-25 form from the current under-22 section. Women's cricket, too, will gain a fillip through tournaments like Safi Darashah and a T20 event.

The revised calendar:

Up to July 17: Group I, Division I, II leagues; July 26-Aug. 6: Group II; July 29-Aug. 15: Safi Darashah; July 13: S.A. Srinivasan memorial Trophy; Aug. first week: Group I (Division IV and super leagues); Sept. 1-15: Karnataka Premier League T20; July 14 onwards: Schools' tournament (KSCA Cup for under-16, BTR Shield for under-14); Oct. 1 onwards: KSCA inter-zonal for under-16; Oct. third week onwards: Group I, Division V league; Sept. third week onwards: Group II, Division II league; Nov. 1st onwards: Group II, Division III league; Jan. 15 onwards: YSR tournament (one-day format); Feb. second week onwards: KSCA T20 tournament for Clubs; To be announced: The Hindu Trophy (T20 for Group II); August: Women's league; August-end: Inter-collegiate tournament; June-end: Girls' inter-school tournament; October: Women's Safi Darashah; November: Women's T20 .

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