The technical committee meeting of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) at its meeting in Baroda on Saturday, suggested radical changes in the format of the domestic cricket tournaments from the 2002-2003 season to make it very competitive.

The BCCI secretary Jaywant Lele told reporters that the recommendations of the technical committee would be discussed at the working committee meeting of the BCCI to be held on August 25 at Mumbai and then it would go to the general body of the BCCI, which will take a final decision.

"The technical committee also recommended changes in the points system for Ranji Trophy matches which will become effective from the ensuing season after the approval by the concerned bodies of the BCCI," Lele added.

Lele said from next year onwards the teams would be divided into two groups. Two teams from each zone will form group A in which there will be ten teams, playing on league basis.

At present there are three teams from each zone which qualify for the knock-out stages. So in all 15 teams play in super league stage. There will be no knock-out stage from next year.

In Group B, there will be 17 teams from five zones which fail to make it to the super league from their respective zones, Lele said.

The 17 teams will be divided into two groups of nine and eight and they will play Ranji Trophy matches on a round robin basis. The top three teams from Group B will be promoted to Group A while three teams remaining at the bottom of Group A will be relegated to Group B.

Justifying the changes in the format, committee chairman Sunil Gavaskar, who presided over the meeting, told newspersons that these changes were in the interest of the game for making it more competitive.

He said there are 27 teams in the country which participate in the Ranji Trophy. "In the UK, domestic matches are played on this format with 20 teams participating," Gavaskar added.

The technical committee had discussed making the changes at its last meeting and after getting feedback from the top players and associations, decided to go in for radical changes in the format. The teams will get one more year to qualify for two top positions in their respective zones.

Lele said the committee recommended changes in the points system which will become effective from this year's Ranji Trophy season after being okayed by the working committee and the general body meeting.

"Under the changed system, the team winning on first innings lead will get one point while an outright win will fetch two points. There will be no points if the match is abandoned or play is not possible for whatever reason," he added.

"At present, the team winning on the basis of first innings lead gets five points while eight points are given for an outright victory while the team losing the match on first innings lead gets three points," Lele said.

Lele said changes in the Duleep Trophy format have also been suggested which may be taken up for discussion at a later stage. Under the new format, Duleep Trophy will be played on knock-out basis and not on league basis as at present. The Duleep Trophy matches will be played in centres hosting international events.

© PTI