'Losing its charm': Ex-India cricketer wants Ranji Trophy to be scrapped

New Delhi, Feb 11 (IANS) Former India cricketer and current Bengal captain Manoj Tiwary has called for the scrapping of the Ranji Trophy from the next season saying several things are "going wrong" in India’s first-class tournament, which has been running since 1934.

Tiwary, also serving as the sports minister of Bengal, refrained from specifying the particular rationale behind his suggestion on social media.

"Ranji trophy should be scrapped off from the calendar from the next season onwards. So many things going wrong in the tournament. So many things need to looked into in order to save this prestigious tournament which has a rich history. It’s losing its charm and importance. Absolutely frustrated," he wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

Tiwary, in addition, conducted a live session on Facebook to shed light on certain concerns regarding the Ranji Trophy.

"Bengal are playing their match against Kerala in an outdoor venue, not a stadium despite there being one built years ago. The dressing rooms are such that you cannot even strategise properly since our dressing room and the opposite team's dressing room are so close to each other that you can hear what the others are saying. There is no privacy," he said in a Facebook live.

He also announced his decision to retire from Ranji Trophy after this season. " After this match and match against Bihar at Edens Garden I will end my Ranji Trophy career...I wanna personally announce that I started at Edens and will end my career there," he said.

After playing for over 19 years, Tiwary announced his retirement from all forms of cricket last year before reversing his decision in less than a week, saying he wanted to give one more try to help Bengal win the Ranji Trophy.

The Bengal player hasn't disclosed the true reason behind the tweet advocating for scraping of the Ranji Trophy. But he promised to unveil the reason upon concluding his career.

"I cannot elaborate further as I am a player and the captain of a State and I have to follow the BCCI's Code of Conduct. I cannot say anything publicly during the match," he said.

Tiwary has scored 216 runs for Bengal in the ongoing Ranji Trophy in six innings with a century against Assam.