Major Domestic Cricket Tournaments in India

Domestic Cricket Tournaments in India

Domestic Cricket Tournaments in India

Cricket is certainly the most sought after sport in India which is been watched, played and loved across all the sections of the society. Moreover, the sport was introduced in the country by the English people during their colonial rule and ever since then, it has gathered immense popularity amongst the Indian people.

Additionally, the sport is been managed and administered by the BCCI (Board of cricket control in India) and it is responsible for the organization, management and the functioning of various cricket activities and organizations around the country. Also, when we talk about the local tournaments organized by BCCI and its subsidiaries, the main aim is always to motivate the young players across the country and providing them with a platform to prove their talent. Whilst we said that, let’s take a look at the major domestic Cricket tournaments in India currently.

Ranji Trophy

irani trophy

The Ranji Trophy can certainly be quoted as one of the most sought after Domestic cricket tournament in India and its saw its inception in 1934 whilst been named after the Prince of Nawanagar, KS Ranjit sinhji. The Tournament involves some of the country’s best state and regional teams to battle it out for the coveted trophy every year and has been through various changes in terms of its format, rules and guidelines over the years.

The Tournament first started as a Zonal competition and then turned into a two tiered league cum knockout tournament over the time whilst including certain rounds of relegations and promotions for the state and regional teams’ altogether. As of now, 37 teams did take part in the 2018 season and the tier is divided into four groups of A, B, C and the plate category. The A and B category would be involving 9 teams each whilst the C category would be involving 10 teams with 9 new teams in the plate category itself. Eventually, it would be all down to the top five teams from the first two groups, Top two teams from the C group and the winner of the plate group to lock horns in the knockout rounds for the Trophy. Mumbai is the team which has won the tournament most number of times and Vidarbha are the reigning champions of the tournament currently.

Duleep Trophy

dullip trophy

Duleep Trophy marks the start of the Domestic cricket season in India whilst getting started in the august month. Just like Ranji trophy, the tournament has been named after another prince of Nawnagar, Duleep sinhji .Ever since its been started in the pre-independence era, it includes most of the zonal teams based on their geographical locations to compete for the Duleep trophy but quite recently, the tournament has gone through certain changes altogether.

The new phase of the tournament now gets played between most talented bunch of cricketers selected by the BCCI selection committee from around the country which is further divided into three teams namely India Red, India blue and India green. The tournament used to be played in knockout format earlier but has changed to a triangular series in the backdrop of the new format with three teams on board. India red team is the reigning champions of the new format of the Duleep trophy as of now.

Vijay Hazare Trophy

vijay hajare trophy

Vijay Hazare is another major Domestic cricket tournament in India established in 1993 whilst getting its name from renowned Indian cricketing legend, Vijay hazare. The tournament has gone through various changes in terms of format, rules and regulations and so on, ever since it found its inception in Indian domestic circuit 25 years back. Whilst earlier it was been played with teams within their respective zones with no outright winner, it then changed into a round robin league stage with a semi final and a final in 2004.

Tamil nadu has won the tournament most number of times (5 times) and Karnataka are the current champions of the coveted trophy whilst playing under the leadership of Karun Nair last year. Moreover, the 2018 season has been started with 28 state teams competing against each other in 160 matches played during the process.

Deodhar Trophy

Deodhar Trophy

Deodhar trophy is again one of the most followed Domestic cricket tournament in India which was named after the famous Indian cricketer , Dinkar Balwant deodhar.Just like the Duleep trophy, Deodhar trophy was also been played in a  zonal format ever since it established in 1973, but even it has gone through drastic transformation in the past few years. The new format sees the winner of the Vijay hazare trophy to compete against two teams, namely India A and India B which would include some of the best players picked from the domestic circuit by the BCCI selectors.

India B are the reigning champion of the new format as they beat Karnataka in the last year’s final in a close contest.

Irani CupIrani Cup

Irani cup was launched by BCCI in the memory of former Indian cricketer Late  Z R Irani on the completion of 25 years of the Irani trophy in 1960.Ever since its been established, the tournament sees the Ranji trophy champion of the past year to battle it out against the rest of the India team every year around. Although the dates of the tournament has been changed over the time, the format has been kept as same in the process. Vidarbha are the current champions of the Irani cup after they defeated Rest of Indian last year in one off the match. On the other hand, Rest of India team has held the trophy record 28 times after the inception of tournament 58 years back.

Syed Mushtaq Ali TrophySyed Mushtaq Ali Trophy

Named after the famous Indian cricketer Syed Mushtaq Ali, the tournament was established in the year 2008-09 as a T20 tournament including all of the teams which did participate in the Ranji trophy. This is said to be the tournament which is specially designed to prepare all the players for the Indian premier league eventually. Delhi is the current champions with Baroda winning the tournament most number of times (2 times).

The Tournament is been played in a group format with three group consisting of 7 teams whilst two groups consisting of eight teams. The top two teams from the groups would proceed to the super league section which is divided into two groups further with five teams each. It’s then come down to the top two teams from each of the group which will battle it out for the trophy in the finals.

Indian Premier League

Indian Premier League

IPL or the Indian premier league can surely be considered as the biggest and the most followed league from the bunch which is now heading into its 11th season next year. The tournament is franchisee based with each franchisee picking players from an available pool via an auction. IPL came into picture in 2008 and ever since then, it has transformed the Indian cricket to a great extent. Mumbai Indian and Chennai super kings have won the tournament most number of times (3 times) over the past 10 years and it’s the latter who has been the reigning champion during the 2018 season.

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