Neutral venues concept has no takers among Ranji captains, coaches

The Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) concept of playing the 2016-17 Ranji Trophy matches at neutral venues received a thumbs down from most quarters at the captains' and coaches' meeting here on Tuesday.

The meeting was held to receive feedback from the Ranji Trophy captains and coaches, and also included discussions on neutral venues, umpiring standards, pay hikes, scheduling, and playing conditions among other topics.

BCCI Acting President C.K. Khanna, Secretary Amitabh Choudhary and Committee of Administrators (COA) officials Diana Edulji and Ramachandra Guha were present at the meeting.

One of the major reasons the players wanted to go back to the home-and-away concept was to avoid travel fatigue as there were only three days between matches.

Among other important topics discussed at the conclave was pay hikes and contracts for domestic players, as suggested by veteran off-spinner Harbhajan Singh in his recent letter to India coach Anil Kumble.

Many captains supported the idea by saying the BCCI should compare the salary of India's domestic players with their counterparts in England and Australia.

--IANS

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