The inclusion of all northeast states has forced BCCI to schedule an unprecedented 2017 (Two thousand and seventeen) domestic matches, which many fear would lead to logistical nightmare.
A record 37 teams will take part in the Ranji Trophy this year (starting November 1) with addition of nine new teams and formation of a 'plate' group.
The addition of Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Uttarakhand, Bihar has led to an exponential increase in number of matches from senior men, women to U-16 level (boys and girls).
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While there will be nine teams each in elite groups A and B, there will be 10 teams in group C.
The notable addition of the nine teams that will form the Plate Group this season are Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Puducherry, Sikkim and Uttarakhand.
Top two teams from each of the four groups will qualify for quarterfinals. The quarterfinalists from Plate Group will be promoted to elite group C while top two from elite C will be promoted to elite A and B respectively.
The domestic calendar starts with senior women's Challenger Trophy from August 13 to 20.
The men's calendar starts with Duleep Trophy (day/night in pink ball) from August 17 to September 9.
It will be followed by Vijay Hazare (National One Dayers) starting September 19 to October 20 (31 days) with 160 matches slotted for the tournament.
The Ranji Trophy will start on November 1 and end on February 6, 2019 with another 160 matches.
There will be another 140 games slotted under National T20 championship for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
In the men's U-23 section, there will be 302 games (151 each) across formats while U-19 boys will have 286 games (143 each) in two formats.
The senior women will have 295 matches in the season with U-23 having 292 games.
While many in BCCI wanted the northeast states to be integrated through a robust junior programme, the Lodha reforms on having northeast states playing Ranji Trophy has left everyone in a tight corner.
"It will be a logistical nightmare. We will have overworked match officials like umpires and match referees, who wouldn't get time to recoup after one round. They will be constantly on the move," a senior BCCI official said today.
As of now, the number of match officials (umpires, match referees, scorers) are not enough to support this exhaustive calendar.
The other big issue is the cricket grounds in the northeast states.
"Save Meghalaya's ground in Shillong and one standard first class level ground in Dimapur (Nagaland), the other states are still on course of restructuring and upgrading their facilities. Also, we need to keep the weather and light conditions in mind," a senior northeast state official said.
"Recently, a northeast task force headed by Prof Ratnakar Shetty visited northeast states. We have told them that the BCCI needs to release funds in order to get the stadiums and indoor facilities ready before domestic season starts," he said.