Stung by threats from the Shiv Sena, the Indian cricket board is contemplating to accommodate the Deodhar Trophy tournament in a cramped 2009-10 schedule.

Board of Control of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary N. Srinivasan said Saturday the fate of the Deodhar Trophy will be decided in the next working committee meeting.

The tournament didn’t find a place in the 2009-10 schedule released by the BCCI’s Tour Programme and Fixtures Committee Wednesday following which the Shiv Sena staged a demonstration in front of the Cricket Centre at the Wankhede Stadium against the dropping of the tournament.

Srinivasan said that the tournament was never dropped.

Asked why the tournament was not mentioned in the schedule announced Wednesday, Srinivasan said: “The BCCI press release is self explanatory and you can draw your own conclusion.”

Srinivasan’s comments came after the Shiv Sena threatened that it won’t allow any Indian Premier League (IPL) matches in the city if the tournament was cancelled.

“BCCI has planned IPL matches in Maharashtra at the cost of Deodhar Trophy tournament. The board has insulted Marathi pride by cancelling the tournament named after Prof D.B. Deodhar,” a Sena leader said.

Shiv Sena on Thursday staged demonstrations outside the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), warning the cricket body of “dire consequences” if it cancels Deodhar trophy tournament.

“BCCI has planned Indian Premier League (IPL) matches in Maharashtra at the cost of Deodhar trophy tournament. The Board has insulted Marathi pride by cancelling the tournament named after Prof D B Deodhar,” Sena leader Subhash Desai said.

“We have given a statement to chief administrative officer of the BCCI, Ratnakar Shetty, condemning the decision,” Desai said.

Shetty assured the Sena delegation that the tournament would be held. However, if the trophy is cancelled, “Shiv Sena will not allow a single IPL match to take place in the state”, Desai warned.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has dropped the annual Deodhar Trophy tournament for the 2009-10 season because of a crammed domestic schedule.

The decision was taken by the Tour Programmes and Fixtures Committee of the BCCI which met here today to chalk out the domestic schedule besides finalising the venues for the seven-match ODI series between India and Australia in October-November.

“Deodhar has been dropped because of the tight schedule (of domestic cricket)”, said a BCCI source.

The tournament, named after one of the doyens of domestic cricket Prof D B Deodhar who died aged 101 in 1993, has been held every year since its inception in 1973-74 as a 60-over event to fine tune Indian cricketers in the limited overs game which was then becoming popular in England.

In 1980-81 the format was changed to 50 overs a side which continued till last season though the BCCI made another change by turning it into a league from the 1993-94 season.

The BCCI, which drew some flak for not holding the Twenty20 domestic tournament in the name of Mushtaq Ali last year as there was little time left before the start of the Indian Premier League, has revived it for the 2009-10 season.

Next year’s IPL is scheduled to start on March 18, a full month ahead of its normal starting point in April.