New Delhi: Rajasthan Cricket Association is drawing plenty of flack from Indian cricket fans for a move that is seen as impudent to the Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI).

At a time when the Indian Cricket Board is pushing to promote domestic cricket and India’s star cricketers are returning in numbers to play in the Ranji Trophy, RCA’s shocking move has raised eyebrows.

According to a report in the Indian Express, the Rajasthan Cricket Association moved the Rajasthan vs Vidarbha Ranji Trophy game which was supposed to begin on Thursday, January 23 from the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur to KL Saini Stadium on the city's outskirts.

The move was made due to the over-eagerness of the RCA officials to prepare Jaipur's premier cricket ground for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 which is two months away.

RCA’s controversial decision to shift Ranji Trophy match

What’s more shocking was the fact that RCA didn’t care about the importance of domestic cricket's oldest tournament and moved the match from Jaipur's main venue to a stadium that last hosted a First-Class match in 2012.

Rajasthan played all three home games in the first leg this season at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium. The iconic ground also hosted seven Vijay Hazare Trophy group-stage fixtures recently, with the most recent being held on January 5.

According to a senior RCA official, the decision to move Rajasthan's home match from Jaipur’s premier ground was formalised last week after a series of meetings.

As the dates of the Republic Day celebration and the Ranji Trophy were clashing, RCA was planning to shift the game to Udaipur or Jodhpur, the official told the Indian Express. But the Rajasthan government’s move to shift the celebrations to Udaipur caught RCA by surprise.

The official further revealed that they planned to move the Ranji game back to Sawai Mansingh Stadium but the work for IPL had already begun.

Prioritising IPL over domestic cricket: A reckless move by RCA?

With BCCI emphasising promoting domestic cricket with a strict diktat, RCA has prioritised the T20 league over domestic First-Class fixtures. As per the BCCI domestic calendar, a fixture of the U-23 Colonel CK Nayudu trophy which was initially slotted for Jaipur’s main venue next month has also been moved out to the KL Saini Stadium.