Indian cricket will be spineless if Ranji trophy is ignored: Ravi Shastri
New Delhi(PTI): Former head coach Ravi Shastri on Friday said that Indian cricket would become "spineless" if the currently postponed Ranji Trophy is ignored, his comment coming as the BCCI grapples with scheduling the premier domestic event that could not be held last season due to COVID-19.
The Ranji Trophy was scheduled to start on January 13 this year but was postponed indefinitely by the BCCI due to the third wave of the pandemic.
"The Ranji Trophy is the backbone of Indian cricket. The moment you start ignoring it our cricket will be SPINELESS!," Shastri tweeted.
BCCI treasurer Arun Dhumal, after a meeting of the Board on Thursday, said that the body intend to hold the marquee domestic tournament in "two phases".
This is because the BCCI is planning to start the IPL from March 27 and it will be practically impossible to hold the Ranji Trophy at a stretch.
Dhumal had said this after many state units and the BCCI brass held a meeting to discuss the way forward. The meeting was also attended by BCCI president Sourav Ganguly and secretary Jay Shah.
As of now, the plan is to hold the league phase for a month, starting in February till March and then have the next phase in June-July, when the monsoon starts in a lot of parts of the country with peak summer in some other parts.
"The operations team will work out the logistics and factor in the weather, venue availability as well as availability of players. We are very keen to organise the tournament and that is why we are exploring all possibilities to stage it without compromising players' safety," Dhumal added.
The pandemic had played spoilsport last season as well when the BCCI could only organise two men's white-ball tournaments (Vijay Hazare Trophy and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy).
The BCCI paid 50 per cent of the earlier match fee as compensation to all first-class cricketers who endured financial losses due to Ranji's cancellation last year.
If it is not held this year, it will severely affect the BCCI's feeder line like the India A team, which is primarily selected on the basis of Rani Trophy performances.
The Ranji Trophy is the backbone of Indian cricket. The moment you start ignoring it our cricket will be SPINELESS!
— Ravi Shastri (@RaviShastriOfc) January 28, 2022
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Thousands protest in Washington DC against Trump ahead of inauguration
Washington: Thousands of people have gathered in Washington to protest against Donald Trump's policies ahead of his inauguration as the 47th President of the United States on January 20.
Trump, 78, succeeds Joe Biden, 82, on Tuesday as the new occupant of the White House. A coalition of nonprofit bodies, including Sakhi for South Asian Survivors, under the banner of People’s March, held the demonstration here to protest against the policies of Trump.
The People's March - previously known as the Women's March - has taken place every year since 2017.
Displaying anti-Trump posters and banner, the protestors raised slogans against the next President and also against some of his close supporters including Tesla owner Elon Musk.
The same group had also held a similar protest on January 2017, when Trump was inaugurated for the first time.
There were a series of three protests which started from three different parks and culminated near the Lincoln Memorial.
“Mass protest is one of the most effective ways to demonstrate to our communities that we are not obeying in advance or bowing to fascism, and invites them to do the same,” People’s March said.
The rallies coincide with Trump's arrival to the nation's capital for a series of weekend events in the lead-up to his swearing-in ceremony on Monday.
Amongst the coalition members are Abortion Action Now, Time to Act, SisterSong, Women’s March, Popular Democracy In Action, Harriet’s Wildest Dreams, The Feminist Front, NOW, Planned Parenthood, National Women’s Law Centre Action Fund, Sierra Club, and the Frontline.
Women’s March is anchoring the logistics of the mobilisation. Similar marches, though at a smaller scale, were also held in various other cities including New York, Seattle and Chicago.
“We really wanted to come to support women, equality, immigration, everything that really feels like we don't have much of a say in right now," Brittany Martinez, one of the protesters, told USA TODAY.
Law enforcement officials said protests and major events are being planned throughout the weekend ahead of the inauguration on Monday. The protestors condemned Trump’s policies and values. Many of them chanted, "Trans Lives Matter!", “Stand up, fight back!”, “Trust Black women!” and “We cannot be silent.”
