The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : BCCI panel to discuss revamp of existing Ranji points system

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Sunday, Jul 10, 2005

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BCCI panel to discuss revamp of existing Ranji points system

Special Correspondent

"Most of the captains and coaches felt that one point be given to the losing team in a drawn game"

CHENNAI: A revamp of the existing Ranji Trophy points structure is to be discussed at the BCCI Technical Committee meeting slated for early next month.

"The suggestions made during the last Captains and Coaches' Conclave will be taken into consideration.

The Technical Committee, chaired by Sunil Gavaskar, will decide on the points format," said Gautam Dasgupta, the BCCI joint secretary, on Saturday.

The existing Ranji points structure credits victory by an innings or 10 wickets with five points, outright victory with four and first innings lead with two.

The losing team gets none, as also the one that finishes on the wrong side of a drawn encounter.

"Most of the captains and coaches felt that one point be given to the losing team in a drawn game," said B. Arun, who attended the conclave as coach of Tamil Nadu.

"There needs to be something in it (by way of points) for a team that forces a draw. The current points structure is imbalanced on that count," the former Test bowler added.

"There will also be far less outright victories when there is an incentive for the losing team to force a draw. This is not the case now. As a result of this, losing teams tend to risk outright defeat while trying for an improbable win, as they have nothing to lose," felt Arun.

Another suggestion made at the conclave was to dock a point from the team that concedes a bonus point.

The idea behind introducing the existing points structure a couple of years ago was to make the National championship more result-oriented.

It was felt that the old points structure of eight for victory, five for first innings lead, three to the losing team in a drawn encounter and nil for defeat, encouraged teams to play defensively.

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