BCCI rethinks Deodhar decision after threat

Mumbai: After announcing the end of the Deodhar Trophy due to a crammed domestic schedule, the BCCI has now backtracked and is thinking of putting it back on the calendar.

"We are trying to squeeze in the Deodhar Trophy somewhere," BCCI's chief administrative officer Ratnakar Shetty said.

The decision comes after Shiv Sena, a political group, staged demonstrations on Thursday warning the BCCI of dire consequences if it cancelled the tournament.

Deodhar Trophy is the country's zonal one-day tournament which was instituted in 1973-74, named after one of the doyens of domestic cricket, Prof DB Deodhar.

"BCCI has planned Indian Premier League (IPL) matches in Maharashtra at the cost of Deodhar Trophy. The Board has insulted Marathi pride by cancelling the tournament named after Prof DB Deodhar," Sena leader Subhash Desai was quoted as saying by The Times of India.

The BCCI, however, assured that the tournament would take place.

"The IPL starts on March 18 and we want to complete the domestic calendar four-five days before that," Shetty said. "There is a proposal to have the zonal Twenty20 simultaneously with the Champions League and have the all-India knock-out towards the end of the season.

"We are still working it out. The working committee meeting in August will finalise the calendar."