Domestic Calendar: BCCI plans to start Ranji season in December; no Irani, Duleep Trophy this year
New Delhi: The BCCI plans to kick-start its 2021-22 domestic season in September this year with the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament and has also allocated a three-month window to the Ranji Trophy from December after the marquee event had to be cancelled last season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, the Duleep Trophy, Deodhar Trophy and Irani Cup are not a part of the tentative calendar prepared by the cricket operations team. Apart from this, five women's competitions have also been dropped from the roster.
PTI has accessed the tentative domestic calendar prepared and discussed at the Apex Council meeting held on Friday.
The 2020-21 season was a severely truncated one with only the National T20 (Mushtaq Ali) and ODI (Vijay Hazare Trophy) championships being held in the wake of pandemic. For women, only the National One-Day meet was organised.
Amid a second wave of COVID-19 cases across India, the BCCI is still hopeful of conducting the domestic season across age-groups in men and women's categories after a curtailed last season.
With India playing the T20 World Cup in October and the mega IPL auctions in the offing next year, it is understood that all stakeholders want to start off with two white ball tournaments -- Mushtaq Ali T20 between "mid-September to October" followed by the Vijay Hazare Trophy in November.
Ranji Trophy, India's premier tournament which was cancelled for the first time in 87 years in 2020, has been planned between December and March in the upcoming season.
The BCCI has also slotted the U-23 tournaments for men and women along with the U-19 events which weren't held during the last season.
The performances in the U-19 One Day Challenger tournament along with Cooch Behar Trophy (days format) and Vinoo Mankad trophy (one day) will help in selection of India colts team for ICC U-19 World Cup next year.
Women's T20 as well as ODI Challenger Trophy will not be played along with these events' under-23 versions. The under-19 women's T20 Challenger Trophy will also not be played.
Complete Calendars (Tentative)
Men
Senior Men
=======
Syed Mushtaq Ali (T20) (Mid Sept-Oct, '21)
Vijay Hazare Trophy (One Day) (November, '21)
Ranji Trophy (First-class) (Dec '21-Mar '22)
U-23 Men
======
National U-23 One Day (Mid Oct-Nov, '21)
CK Nayudu Trophy (days format) (Dec, '21-March '22)
Boys' U-19
=======
Vinoo Mankad (One Day) (October, '21)
U-19 One Day Challenger (November, '21)
Cooch Behar (Multi Day) (Nov '21-Jan '22)
Boys' U-16
=======
Vijay Merchant Trophy (Multi Day) (October -December, '21)
Senior Women
=========
Senior Women's T20 League (October, '21)
Senior Women's One Day league (November, '21)
U-23 Women
========
Women's U-23 T20 League (December, '21)
Women's U-23 One Day League (January, '22)
U-19 Girls
=======
U-19 T20 League (January, '22)
U-19 One Day League (last week of March, '22)
Inter Zonal University Cricket
Vizzy Tropy (Men)
(Aprl, 2022).
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JioHotstar to invest Rs 4,000 crore for South Indian content push; unveils 25-title slate
Chennai (PTI): Streaming service JioHotstar on Tuesday announced that it will invest Rs 4,000 crore over the next five years to strengthen South India’s creative economy, unveiling a 25-title slate as part of a major push for regional content.
In one of the biggest announcements by an Indian streaming platform for the southern markets, the company showcased its “South Unbound” vision at a high-profile event here.
Sushant Sreeram, Head – SVOD Business & Chief Marketing Officer at JioStar, said the investment forms part of a broader collaboration with the Tamil Nadu government.
“Earlier today, JioHotstar formalised a Letter of Intent with the Government of Tamil Nadu in the presence of the Chief Minister M K Stalin. This outlines a shared commitment to invest in talent, expand infrastructure and build a future-ready creative economy from the South.
"As part of this vision, JioHotstar will invest Rs 4,000 crore to nurture creators, strengthen the production ecosystem and build a pipeline of stories that are ready for India and ready for the world,” he said.
Calling South India the “heartbeat of Indian storytelling”, Sreeram said the investment signalled the platform’s long-term commitment to local creators.
"JioHotstar started as a dream — to build entertainment rooted in India’s storytelling heritage and powered by cutting-edge technology. The resplendent storytelling traditions of the South motivate us to keep championing authentic, rooted narratives while offering greater accessibility and choices for every viewer," he said.
The event was attended by Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin, veteran actor and MP Kamal Haasan, senior state officials, and leading stars and filmmakers from across the southern industries.
Deputy CM Stalin said the partnership will generate “1,000 direct jobs and 15,000 indirect jobs”.
“Cinema in Tamil Nadu has always been a force for social change. OTT is not replacing cinema; it is expanding it. Today, a filmmaker in Madurai or Salem can upload a story and reach audiences across the world. The cultural and economic impact of this partnership will be massive," he added.
aasan said Indian media and entertainment was undergoing a fundamental transformation driven not by technology alone, but by the audience itself.
“We gather at a moment when India’s media and entertainment is not merely growing, it is transforming. For the first time, this shift is not driven by device or format, but by the audience itself,” he said, adding that storytelling today is “screen agnostic”.
“Regional is becoming the new national, and ethnic the new international. Stories born in Madurai, Malappuram or Machilipatnam are no longer regional cinema; they are national cultural events,” Haasan said, giving the example of movies such as “Kantara”, “Drishyam”, “Baahubali”, “Pushpa” and Tamil hits like “Vikram”.
The event was also attended by Mohanlal, Nagarjuna, Vijay Sethupathi, Priyamani, Aishwarya Rajesh and others -- along with directors Jeethu Joseph and Ahammed Khabeer
The streamer's ambitious content slate, unveiled as part of its “South Unbound” initiative, includes sequels to blockbuster franchises, new long-format shows, films, adaptations, and high-engagement reality formats.
The Tamil slate features a mix of returning favourites and new originals, led by "Bigg Boss Tamil", now hosted by Vijay Sethupathi, and "Good Wife S2", the legal drama starring Priyamani.
The lineup also includes "LBW – Love Beyond Wicket", a relationship drama; the family comedy "Cousins and Kalyanams"; the psychological drama "Resort"; and "Heartbeat S3", which brings back Anumol, Karthik Kumar and Deepa Balu.
Other Tamil offerings include "Lingam", an action-drama; "Love Always", a multigenerational love story; the marquee title "Kaattaan" starring Vijay Sethupathi and Milind Soman; and "Second Love", a non-fiction relationship series.
In Telugu, the platform returns with "Bigg Boss Telugu" hosted by Nagarjuna, alongside new originals such as "Moodu Lantharlu" starring Aishwarya Rajesh; the police procedural "Vikram on Duty"; "Varam", a mystical relationship drama; and the hit comedy-drama "Save The Tigers S3" with Chaitanya Krishna.
The slate further includes "Vishakha", the Telugu adaptation of "Aarya" led by Kajal Aggarwal; the relationship-based non-fiction format "Mad for Each Other"; and the Telugu debut of the iconic adventure franchise "Roadies".
From Malayalam, the platform brings back "Bigg Boss Malayalam" hosted by Mohanlal; "Kerala Crime Files S3" featuring Aju Varghese; the mystery drama "Secret Stories: Roslin"; "Anali", "1000 Babies S2" with Neena Gupta and Rahman; and the hard-hitting drama "Pharma" starring Nivin Pauly.
The Kannada lineup includes "Bigg Boss Kannada" hosted by Kichcha Sudeepa; "Batchmates", a nostalgic friendship drama; and the food-and-humour-based non-fiction series "Comedy Cooks".
Across languages, the platform also announced new films such as "Lucky The Superstar", featuring GV Prakash, Anaswara Rajan and Meghna Sumesh, and "Kenatha Kaanom", positioned as broad-appeal mainstream entertainers.
