The opening round of Ranji Trophy matches will begin from February 17 following a five-day quarantine and the squad size, including support staff, has been capped at 30 as the BCCI aims to stage the 38-team event across nine different bio-bubbles amid the COVID-19 pandemic.The BCCI had earlier announced that the Ranji Trophy, to be held after two years due to the pandemic, will take place in two phases, before and after the IPL.On Tuesday, the board issued "staging guidelines" to the nine host associations.The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has decreed that the squad size of each team in the Ranji Trophy should not exceed 30 members and there should be a minimum 20 players in that contingent. "Accordingly, the number of support staff is capped at a total of 10," the BCCI has told the state associations.

BCCI is also allowing the states to carry two reserves in view of the pandemic situation. "The teams are permitted to carry two extra players as COVID RESERVES. In case, where a Team India cricketer is deputed by the BCCI to participate in domestic cricket, he will be eligible for match fee over and above the 20 players based on his Playing XI and non-Playing XI status in the matches," the BCCI wrote.The BCCI has also provided a generic advisory on how the match fee can be disbursed. According to the board, of the 20, the playing XI will be entitled for full match fee of Rs 2.4 lakh each and the remaining nine will get 50 per cent of it.he BCCI has stipulated that the reporting date for each team is February 10 from when the squad will have five-day quarantine which will end on February 14. After practice for two days, the first-round matches will start on February 17. Nine centres - Cuttack, Rajkot, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Trivandrum, Delhi, Haryana, Guwahati and Kolkata -- are hosting the matches of the two-phased tournament with the IPL in between.Each team is allowed three league matches and the first phase ends with a pre-quarterfinal match between lowest-ranked team in Elite division and highest-ranked side in Plate. The pre-quarterfinals will be held from March 12 to 16. Matches from the quarterfinals onwards will be held after the IPL - from May 30 to June 26. RT-PCR tests will be conducted on day two and day five, leaving teams two days for practice on February 15 and 16.The teams who will take part in the sole round-of-16 clash will have to undergo a four-day quarantine.