The Tamil Nadu Cricket Association will conduct the Take Sports-All India Buchi Babu Invitational tournament from August 15 to September 11 at Natham (Dindigul), Salem, Coimbatore and Tirunelveli.
Twelve teams, including the TNCA President’s XI and TNCA XI, will participate in the tournament. The teams are drawn into four groups of three, with the toppers qualifying for the semifinals.
Tirunelveli will host the first semifinal, while Natham will host the other semifinal and the summit clash.
The matches will be played in a four-day format, making it a valuable preparation for the Ranji Trophy. The winner will take home Rs 3 Lakhs, and the runner-up Rs 2 lakhs. Madhya Pradesh is the defending champion, beating Delhi in the final last year.
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The tournament will be comprised of 10 state-based sides -- Madhya Pradesh (defending champion), Jharkhand, Railways, Gujarat, Mumbai, Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir, Chattisgarh, Hyderabad and Baroda -- besides two local teams -- TNCA President’s XI and TNCA XI.
The tournament used to be a season opener in Indian domestic cricket and all Test stars would turn up at the start of the season.
It lost its sheen in recent years failing to attract big names. The last players among those who played while still being India captains were Krishnamachari Srikkanth and Mohammad Azharuddin. Even Sourav Ganguly, who was dropped by the then India head coach Greg Chappell, had played Buchi Babu during his comeback trail in mid 2000s.
However, India T20 skipper Suryakumar Yadav will play a game for Mumbai in the upcoming edition.
Groups
Schedule
(With inputs from PTI)
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